


Laws of Christmas

by Boy_On_Strings



Series: String Theory [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anal Sex, Christmas, F/F, F/M, First Time, Hot Chocolate, M/M, Mistletoe, Multi, Oral Sex, Presents, Rimming, Snark, bottom!Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-07
Updated: 2012-06-07
Packaged: 2017-11-07 04:43:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/427017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boy_On_Strings/pseuds/Boy_On_Strings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone gathers for a Christmas party, but Lydia has some surprising rules she plans to enforce. Scott and Jackson get a little bit closer, while Allison and Lydia share a surprising moment. Finally, Derek asks Stiles to do something he never thought he would.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Mistletoe Minefield

* * *

Five people all opened the same Christmas card, at slightly different times, two weeks before the night of their Christmas party. Five people read, with various levels of escalating horror, the message that it contained:

_Lydia's Laws of Christmas_

_Mistletoe requires a kiss. It doesn't matter who you're dating. It doesn't matter who you're with. It doesn't matter who you would have to kiss._

_Forgetting your Secret Santa gift counts as fifty breaches of the rules, and I will personally murder you._

_Prohibited activities:_   
_Any unseasonable activity, such as (but not limited to):_   
_Sourness or negativity_   
_Glowing eyes_   
_Growling_   
_Breaking anything_   
_Spilling or dropping anything_   
_Arguing with the hostess_

_As the hostess, and most socially conscious member of the pack, I reserve the right to add any additional laws at any time. This is not negotiable._

_Breaking any of the laws will require you to place a $1 donation into a collection jar. All the money collected will be donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. Whoever breaks the most laws must donate an additional $5. You cannot pre-donate to proactively take part in any of the above listed activities. You are welcome (and encouraged) to make additional donations._

_Merry Christmas,_   
_Your presence is expected,_   
_Lydia Martin_

One person was sure that he would not break any of the rules if he could help it. That person was sure because he was told that if he was  _really, really_  good, that he would have something special at the end of the night. That person was going to get that present, no matter the cost.

* * *

 

"So, did you bring money in case you break any of the laws mentioned in the card?" Stiles asked as Derek opened the car door for him. Stiles loved that Derek did little things like that even if sometimes it made him feel a little girly. Derek scowled. Stiles would have pointed out that would probably count in Lydia's eyes as breaking her laws, but it would have made things worse.

"I stopped at the bank on the way to pick you up," Derek said, his scowl getting… scowlier, "I assume the teller thought I was getting money to go to a strip club with all the singles I asked for."

Stiles opted to chew on the end of his scarf rather than respond. He tried fairly unsuccessfully to hide his laughter from Derek. He heard the rustling of bags being set on the ground before the trunk of Derek's car slammed closed. He seemed to be in quite a mood.

"Oh come on, Derek, I'm sure it's not going to be that bad." Stiles said.

"I brought singles to cover you too. The no dropping or breaking anything ones have me worried." Derek grinned at him over the car. Stiles wasn't going to sink to Derek's level. It simply wasn't the season for it. He  _accidentally_ stepped on Derek's foot as he went to pick up some of the bags, but everyone knew he could be clumsy at times.

"It was really nice of Lydia to organize this party," Stiles said as he walked up the path to the Country Club's main building. He wasn't sure what it was called. The Clubhouse? He sighed wistfully. He wanted to build snowmen under his tree fort, but after the last sledding incident and his subsequent weekend of being sick, Derek had instituted a limit on the amount of time he could play in the snow. Sometimes he was shocked at what he would put up with for sanity destroying sex with the hottest werewolf in the world.

"Stop it," Derek said.

Stiles raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. He wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to be stopping. "I don't know what you're—"

"Stop having sex thoughts," Derek interrupted.

Stiles gave Derek a scandalized look. Derek leered at him. He broke away from Derek's gaze, feigning a cough as they made it to the door. He didn't have a free hand to knock so he opted to bang his head gently against. He turned just in time to see Derek raise an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Nothing, I just don't think we have to knock." Derek started to move to try to open the door, but before he could reach the handle it swung open. Lydia stood in the doorway.

"Merry Christmas," Lydia said.

"Merry Christmas," Stiles and Derek responded in unison. Derek narrowed his eyes at Stiles, but he narrowed his eyes right back. Somehow the night had just started and it already felt like they were taking part in some sort of sitcom Christmas special.

"You guys are so adorable. Now kiss." Lydia's voice did not give any room to argue with her. She watched them expectantly.

Stiles pivoted his whole upper body, plastic bags swishing as he turned to regard Derek. Derek used his head to gesture above them since his arms were also weighed down with bags. Stiles looked up and noticed there was a sprig of mistletoe hanging right above the door. Stiles blushed. Lydia tapped her foot impatiently. Derek got right down to business, nuzzling against the side of Stiles's face, the hot breath on his skin made him shiver. Derek's lips closed over his, and it didn't matter how many times it happened, it was always going to take his breath away.

Derek licked against his lips teasingly; Stiles opened his mouth so that Derek could get inside. Derek made a hungry noise, and licked inside his mouth. Stiles wobbled slightly, thinking that eating a candy cane on the way over had been one of his best decisions he'd made so far that day. Stiles moaned into Derek's mouth, he was going boneless, some of the bags slipped from his nerveless fingers. Derek chuckled against his lips. No wonder Derek always made him carry the bags that didn't matter if you dropped them.

"Because counting every item in every bag you just dropped wouldn't be in the season of giving, I'm only going to count each individual bag." Lydia said.

"Muhhhrrhm?" Stiles asked, he coughed and shook his head. He took a moment to get his mouth and brain working again once Derek let go of his lips. "Excuse me?"

"You just dropped three bags. That means you owe a three dollar donation." Lydia's smile was radiant, triumphant, and utterly infuriating.

"Fine," Stiles mumbled. He grinned widely when Lydia raised an eyebrow, no doubt assessing him for sourness or any other unseasonable activity. Stiles was effusive as fuck, there was no way he was getting hit with a fine over being anything less than ridiculously manic.

"Just so you know, Stiles, I'm not counting the bag dropping against you either," Derek said. "I sort of tried to get you to do it on purpose."

"Oh? Is there some other tally going on tonight?" Lydia looked like a cat that had just found the most enticing ball of string.

"Derek told me I'd get a  _really, really_  special surprise if I was good tonight." Stiles grinned widely as Lydia's eyes flickered between the two of them.

"Well, good luck," she said. "I'm sure you're going to need it if you have to be good all night."

"Yes! I'm not the only one who owes a donation now. I don't think that was particularly in the spirit of the season. Zing!" Stiles grinned. Derek and Lydia both laughed. They followed Lydia into the clubhouse, stopping near a large table with a giant jar in the middle of it. As if to demonstrate how it was done, Lydia pulled a dollar bill out of her purse and dropped it into the jar, winking at Stiles as she did it.

Derek set his bags gently down in order to fish his wallet out of his back pocket. Stiles watched and licked his lips. He would have been more than happy to help Derek get it if his boyfriend had only asked for his assistance. Derek turned his intense gaze on Stiles as he dropped three one dollar bills into the jar. Stiles knew that look, it was Derek's 'I told you to stop thinking sex things, but you know that I don't really mean it because I love the way it makes you smell when you're horny for me' look. Stiles loved that look; it was one of his favorites.

"Anyone else here yet?" Stiles craned his neck and looked around for the rest of the pack.

"Everyone's here, in the room at the end of the hall around the fire. That's where we have the food and presents," Lydia said.

Stiles loved food, loved presents, loved Christmas. He was so excited that he was practically bouncing as he made his way down the hall. He looked at Lydia curiously when she picked up the donation jar; so far it only seemed to contain the money they had just placed in it. "You're bringing it to the other room?"

"I'm sure we're going to need it easily available," Lydia said cryptically.

As they walked down the hall a thought occurred to Stiles, he turned to look at his boyfriend. "Derek, I just need to know before we get too far into the party, am I supposed to not kiss anyone or kiss anyone if I somehow end up under mistletoe with them?" Stiles blushed; he really wanted to know what the present was, wanted to make sure to do whatever he needed to get it.

Derek laughed; it wasn't the reaction Stiles had been expecting. "It's just a little Christmas fun, nothing to worry about. We're all pack; a little kiss on Christmas isn't going to hurt anyone."

"I'm glad you agree," Lydia said, stopping underneath the archway that led into the next room. Stiles almost ran into her not having expected her to stop so suddenly. She pointed up into the space between her and Stiles. He glanced up; there was another sprig of mistletoe.

"Wow, it's like you booby trapped the whole place," Stiles said.

"You have no idea." Lydia had her mischievous she-devil smirk on. "So what's it going to be, Stiles, a dollar for the children or a kiss for me?"

Stiles glanced back at Derek nervously. His boyfriend tilted his head considering the situation. "Up to you, Stiles," Derek said. "I know who you belong to."

Lydia let out an appreciative whistle. Stiles tried to ignore the heat that was rushing to his face. He leaned forward, licking his lips nervously before pressing them lightly against Lydia's. At one time it was the only thing he'd ever wanted. Little twinges of residual memories surfaced at the touch. He pulled away, sure that he had a goofy grin on his face as he licked his lips. Her cherry lip balm was delicious.

Lydia laughed delightedly before turning and heading into the room. Stiles glanced over at Derek to make sure that he was alright. Derek crowded into his space again, leaned down and captured Stiles's mouth. Stiles moaned when Derek licked along his lips, it made shivers run down his spine when he thought that Derek might have been trying to smother Lydia's taste with his own. Stiles panted slightly when he was let go. Derek winked at him before heading into the room. Stiles looked up at the ceiling as he entered. His mouth fell open in shock.

There were sprigs of mistletoe spread strategically about the room. They guarded most of the walkways between the furniture, they were above the table of presents, above the fireplace, hell, they were even above the hallway that lead to the bathrooms. There was another exit that led onto a little patio; mistletoe guarded that door as well. There was going to be a lot of kissing going on.

He walked carefully to the table that had the food spread out on it; he set his bags on the floor and pulled out the chips, drinks, and cookies he'd brought. He'd baked the cookies himself; he hoped everyone thought they were delicious. Then again, if they didn't find them delicious he could keep and eat them all himself. He cast a glance nervously at the jar Lydia had set down. He thought that might have been unseasonable behavior.

"Hey dude," Scott said as he wrapped Stiles in a warm hug from behind. Stiles went rigid in his arms.

"Oh no, Scott, what have you done?" Stiles sounded borderline hysterical, but he couldn't help himself. Scott's eyes got comically wide, unsure of what he'd done. Stiles watched Scott glance around at the other assembled people. Everyone was laughing, or trying not to laugh.

"What?" Scott shrugged. Clearly lost on what he'd done.

"Baby, look up," Allison said.

Scott looked up, Stiles watched as horror settled over his features. Scott had walked right up to him and hugged him under the mistletoe Lydia had placed by the food table.

"Where's the jar? I'm so putting a dollar in there," Scott said desperately.

"Lame," Lydia muttered. She started to move forward to grab the jar and offer it to Scott, but hesitated when Allison spoke.

"It's okay. You can kiss him," Allison said.

Stiles cast a nervous glance at her. She winked. She was devious and tricky. Stiles faintly recalled Lydia once saying something about girls liking the idea of two boys. Stiles looked over at Derek. He stood next to the fireplace, clearly avoiding the mistletoe just off to his left. Stiles thought Derek might have been chuckling.

"I don't want to make Jackson jealous," Stiles said.

Jackson, who had been taking a drink of soda, choked. His hand shook a little bit and some of the liquid spilled over the edge and onto the table he was sitting at. He got his breath back and scowled at Stiles.

"That's two, Jackson. You spilled something and you're scowling," Lydia said.

"But—"

"Three, you argued with me." Lydia just counted off his offenses like it was the simplest thing in the world. Jackson growled.

"Four." Lydia laughed at the shocked look on Jackson's face.

His body quivered for a moment. He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, walked over to the jar, and dropped a five dollar bill into it. "Keep the change," Jackson said. "I want to do my part to help the children."

Lydia grinned mischievously. "That's the spirit, honey." Jackson smiled back at her using a little more teeth than ususal.

All eyes turned back to focus on Scott and Stiles. Stiles swallowed nervously. He looked over at Derek again who gave him a slight nod. Stiles turned back to Scott and leaned forward to kiss him, not realizing until the last moment when it was too late that Scott had opened his mouth to protest. The kiss was unintentionally awkward and a little wetter that he intended since his upper lip had sort of gotten in Scott's mouth a little. Laughter filled the room as Scott spluttered and Stiles turned away making dry heaving noises.

"Dude," Scott said, "Uncool, I had my mouth open and everything!"

Stiles made gagging noises and held up a finger towards Scott to pause his tirade. He coughed a couple of times, and grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth off. Then he turned to regard Scott and winked at him. "Wow Scotty," Stiles said, "Allison's such a lucky girl. Your technique is amazing."

Scott pushed him lightly. Stiles pushed him back. Scott pushed him again.

"Whatever man, you were like one of those things that cling to the side of an aquarium with its mouth," Scott teased.

Stiles spluttered, reaching out to smack Scott in the head. Scott ducked away and ran towards the fireplace. Stiles had almost caught him when Derek snagged his arm as he passed by. Stiles turned to open his mouth in protest, but Derek's mouth covered his again. Stiles froze in place, let Derek have his way with his lips.

"So, That's how you get Stiles to be quiet and stay still," Jackson said.

"I'm not sure it works for everyone," Allison said, laughing softly.

Stiles melted against Derek momentarily. It wasn't until he heard Lydia's voice that he was able to think again. Derek rubbed his hands soothingly along Stiles's arms, it gave him goosebumps.

"Scott you owe the jar a dollar." Lydia and her rules for Christmas were not to be taken lightly.

Scott opened his mouth, but then clicked it closed. Stiles grinned, he must have learned from having seen Jackson that you didn't argue with the hostess. Scott dropped a dollar into the jar.

"Can I ask what that was for?"

"For fighting, you started a fight, I decided to exercise my on the fly addendum clause to say that fighting costs one dollar. I hadn't assumed it was necessary. I had forgotten how immature boys could be," Lydia said.

Stiles cleared his throat. Lydia looked at him and then blushed. Without saying anything she pulled out a dollar and dropped it into the jar as well. Everyone laughed. Stiles was going to keep getting her with the unseasonable sassiness, he knew it, she knew it, and it made them both grin.

"Can it be present time?" Allison blushed when everyone looked at her. "I'm just really excited to give mine."

Stiles rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Derek walked over and offered him a drink. Stiles looked into it to make sure it wasn't eggnog. That stuff gave him the creeps. Derek gave him a curious look, but he just gave Derek a thumbs-up as he took a drink of the soda.

"Everyone get some food and then gather around the fireplace," Lydia said. "Once everyone's settled we'll do the gift exchange in alphabetical order."

The pack bustled about the room, setting presents on the table and getting food and drinks. Everyone seemed incredibly conscious of the placement of the mistletoe. No one was making any mistakes until Stiles stumbled over Jackson's stretched out legs while coming around the food table. He went off balance and almost fell into Allison. Derek caught Stiles, keeping him from going head first into the fire, while Allison gracefully hopped backwards, right into Lydia. The two of them were right in front of the fireplace, right under a sprig of mistletoe.

Jackson whistled. Scott perked up like he just caught the scent of sizzling bacon. They both licked their lips. Stiles watched with interest as the two girls looked up and noticed where they were. Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles's waist, rested his chin on Stiles's shoulder and whispered, "I could almost believe Jackson planned that somehow."

Stiles grinned, but didn't say anything. This would certainly be interesting. He wondered if they'd kiss or pay. Lydia turned to regard Allison, the dark haired girl smiled shyly. The boys watched with rapt attention as their girlfriends closed the small space between them. Allison brushed her fingers through Lydia's strawberry blonde hair; Lydia ran the backs of her fingers over the graceful curve of Allison's neck. Scott knocked his drink over on the table. Jackson's eyes were alight with twisting green energy. Scott's eyes were focused molten gold.

Stiles tried to glance at Derek, but his boyfriend had tilted his face into Stiles's collarbone, breathing shallowly against his skin. Stiles grinned, the scent of Jackson and Scott's interest in the two girls must have been invading Derek's senses. He was trying to drown in Stiles's scent as a defense. It was wonderful, made Stiles's spine tingle. He turned his attention back to the girls.

Lydia went up on her tiptoes as Allison leaned down, their lips pressed lightly together. Stiles was awed by it. Luscious bright red lips, met a softer, deeper shade of red. Lydia's arm curled around Allison's back, hand dancing over the taller girl's hips. Allison gently stroked her fingers along Lydia's cheek, coming to rest lightly behind her ear, thumb stroking across a soft pale cheek.

Stiles watched in fascination as the two girls swayed in place together, lips a gentle glide. It was different, different than anything he'd ever seen. Even when Derek was being gentle, kissing another guy was powerful, fierce. This softness, it was beautiful. No male fire pushing it to be something more. It was amazing, like soft ripples on water the way their lips moved against each other.

They pulled apart, blinked at each other for a few moments before turning to look at the boys that were watching them. Stiles whistled appreciatively the way Lydia had earlier. Allison blushed, her cheeks going almost as red as her lips. Lydia glanced at Scott and Jackson.

"Jackson, you owe a dollar. Scott you owe two, and clean up that drink," Lydia said. Her voice was soft though, lacking some of the power that normally compelled people to listen to her immediately. Each one of them had broken the glowing eyes law, and Scott spilled his drink on top of it. The jar was rapidly filling with money.

Stiles could tell that Lydia was embarrassed, he wouldn't out her though. It wouldn't be seasonable. He'd probably tease her about it at some point. It wasn't often he got to do something like that, she was normally so cool and collected all the time.

Jackson and Scott shook their heads, the light of their inner wolves faded from their eyes. Scott blinked a few times before realizing that some of his drink was dripping onto his leg. Jackson laughed and Scott punched him in the arm. Jackson punched him back.

"One more dollar from each of you," Lydia called out as she started pulling chairs away from the fire, clearing a spot for them all to sit on the floor.

The two boys added the money they owed to the jar. Stiles watched Jackson move over to the table of food, he was sniffing, looking for something else to eat. Stiles glanced over at Scott who was looking at Jackson's back. Stiles tilted his head curiously as Scott glanced up at the mistletoe hanging right above Jackson's head.

Allison and Lydia were busy moving furniture; neither of them seemed to notice Scott walking nervously towards the table. Stiles turned his face towards Derek who was still resting his chin on his shoulder. He couldn't see Derek's face, but felt Derek nod against him, felt his fingers curl against his waist. Stiles rested his hands over Derek's, stroked them lightly with his fingers, and got rewarded with a soft kiss against his neck.

Scott was standing right behind Jackson; the blonde seemed oblivious as he snagged another cheese cube and slice of peperoni. When Scott was close enough to be in the mistletoe's domain he froze, turned, and was about to walk away.

"Lydia, looks like we have another mistletoe victim," Derek said.

Stiles gasped in shock, he hadn't expected Derek to say anything. The girls turned and looked. Jackson turned and found himself facing Scott's back. Scott's mouth worked soundlessly. He turned to face Jackson, who fidgeted nervously. Stiles watched them curiously. He'd heard about their fabled one hot tub stand, and he remembered joking about the two of them flirting when they were on their trip. He didn't really understand at the time, about the scent sharing. This seemed to be more than that though.

Stiles turned to watch the girls, to see their reaction. Allison's face was almost as red as when they'd watched her kiss. Lydia on the other hand was watching the two boys by the table with her calculating gaze. Allison leaned over and whispered something into Lydia's ear.

Jackson's hands started shaking nervously, something about it made Stiles sad. Jackson reached behind to pull his wallet out of his back pocket. "Don't worry, McCall, I'll cover us both," Jackson said.

Scott hesitated for a moment. Without looking up into Jackson's face, he grabbed his wrist to keep it from getting to the wallet. "I don't want you to."

Stiles gaspe. He'd never really heard Scott's voice sound so small and nervous. Derek's arms tightened around his waist, and Stiles bit his lower lip as he watched his best friend shift back and forth.

"It's okay," Derek whispered into his ear. "Allison told Lydia that she wanted to see it. You know how Lydia felt already. No one's going to get hurt by this."

Stiles's fingers closed tighter on Derek's hands. Derek was wrong, they were all wrong. Stiles could see it in the tension in Jackson's neck, the way his wrist trembled as Scott's fingers drifted lightly over the skin. Tomorrow would be just another day for all of them, for everyone except Jackson. He was going to be haunted by this, but was too afraid he'd never get it again to let the opportunity pass him by.

"Scott," Jackson whispered, barely loud enough for Stiles to hear. The tone was desperate and needy and Stiles knew what it meant and it broke his heart a little. He blinked his eyes to clear away the wetness building in them. Derek's arms squeezed him gently.

Scott brought the hand that wasn't holding onto Jackson's wrist up, ran his thumb along Jackson's cheek before gripping him firmly by the back of the neck as he said, "It's okay, Jackson. I'm not going anywhere."

Jackson wrapped his arms around Scott's body, pulled the two of them tightly together. Scott wrapped his arms around Jackson's shoulders. Jackson leaned down and Scott tilted his head back. Their lips pressed together. Stiles heard Allison's soft gasp, but didn't want to look away. He wanted to see this thing that had a hold on Jackson. He wondered if anyone else knew. He wondered if anyone really understood what was going on there between the two of them.

Scott's fingers curled in the back of Jackson's hair. Jackson lifted Scott slightly off his feet pressing their bodies together. The fire caused flickers of shadow to race across their bodies. It was intimate in a way that even Lydia and Allison's kiss hadn't been. Stiles turned his head away, felt like he was intruding.

He glanced at Allison and Lydia. Allison was holding Lydia's hand, had her lower lip trapped between her teeth. Lydia leaned up to whisper something to Allison. The dark haired girl smiled, nodded at Lydia and they turned to finish getting the area around the fireplace cleared.

Stiles turned to look back at Jackson and Scott; the two of them were holding hands, palms to palms and resting forehead to forehead. Scott had his eyes open, Jackson's were closed. Scott leaned in and placed another quick kiss on Jackson's lips before pulling away. Scott went over to Allison, helped her finish moving one of the heavier chairs. Stiles watched Jackson, his heart ached as Jackson's gaze followed Scott. Stiles pulled out of Derek's grasp, wanted to make sure Jackson was okay.

He rushed up to Jackson and pulled the startled werewolf into a hug. Jackson almost pushed him away, but before he could Stiles whispered into his ear, "You're going to be okay." Stiles felt Jackson's body tremble for a moment before hugging back. He looked into Jackson's pale blue eyes, ruffled the guy's blonde hair and smiled, knowing it was infectious. After a few moments Jackson smiled back. They pulled apart. Stiles was about to turn around and go back to Derek when he heard his boyfriend call out again.

"Looks like it's Jackson's lucky day." There was something in Derek's voice that Stiles couldn't quite put his finger on. It wasn't negative, wasn't anger. It was something else.

"Well pucker up Stiles," Allison said. "You're certainly making the rounds tonight."

"I-I just wanted a hot dog in the little bread thing," Stiles stuttered. He blinked and almost swallowed his tongue at what he just said. The girls laughed delightedly.

"Well now you can have a slice of beefcake instead," Lydia teased.

"It's cool, Stiles, you've done enough." Jackson looked down at the floor like he dropped the keys to his Porsche and couldn't find them.

Stiles looked over at Derek, watched him nod, eyes focused and intense. It was like Derek wanted him to do it. He'd purposefully called out and let the others know he was by the mistletoe with Jackson. Stiles turned, laced his fingers through Jackson's belt loops. Jackson made a surprised noise, almost a protest, but stopped and watched as Stiles licked his lips, mouth hanging slightly open. Stiles grinned inwardly, that trick worked on everyone.

Jackson leaned down, lips brushing against Stiles's nervously, cautiously. Jackson must have thought Derek was going to tear his throat out, clearly didn't know how to kiss a guy with any real force to it. Stiles took possession of the kiss, did what Derek did when he kissed Stiles. He nipped lightly at Jackson's mouth, licked to soothe the sting.

Jackson gasped in surprise. Stiles pulled away, turned to look back at the rest of the pack. Lydia had dropped the cushion she was holding. Allison gaped in astonishment. Scott's eyes were glowing amber. He looked angry and possessive. Stiles swallowed nervously. Derek's eyes were blown open, pulsing purple light twisting in the depths. Stiles walked over to him. "You okay?"

Derek gripped Stiles's hips, and pulled him close with enough force it made Stiles gasp. Derek kissed him fiercely, like it was the only thing keeping him alive. Stiles was drowning in Derek's mouth, couldn't remember how to breathe. Derek released his lips and nosed against Stiles's cheek until he turned his head to the side. Tight, sucking heat enveloped Stiles's neck until he knew a bruise was forming. Derek wanted to see it, wanted to see him kiss Jackson, but wanted to make sure everyone knew who Stiles belonged to.

Stiles almost fell when Derek let him go, his knees were weak. He coughed nervously as everyone in the room watched him. "Well," he said, "I know Lydia dropped something, and everyone's eyes were glowing at one point or another. I say we all just put five dollars in the jar to help the kids, and open our presents."

Everyone rummaged into their wallets and purses and dropped the money into the jar. They dispersed, gathering up their gifts and drinks. Scott and Jackson grabbed their plates of food. Everyone sat on cushions on the floor in a half circle around the fire.

"Ok," Lydia said, "Allison's first since we're going alphabetically. If your gift has a card, you have to read it aloud so we can all hear what it says."

Stiles noticed Scott's eyes get wide. Everyone else seemed to be looking at Lydia. Stiles wondered what it meant. Allison giggled delightedly; she picked up the gift bag in front of her. It was silver with blue ribbons and a blue bow. She crawled across the floor and offered it to Derek. Stiles grinned at his boyfriend as he curiously pulled out tissue paper and found a card. Derek opened it and flipped the card open.

"To Derek, From Allison," Derek said. "Thank you for bringing us all together and watching out for us." Derek smiled at her, and he got up on his knees to give her a light hug. They both settled back into their positions in the circle as Derek went back to rooting around in the bag. He came out with a little holder that was clearly a gift card. He opened it and chuckled. "Home depot, exactly what I need."

Stiles chuckled; they'd been working on Derek's house as a pack after he'd gotten it back from the county. Derek had a small apartment he lived in. He told Stiles he didn't want him to stay over in his family's house until it was rebuilt and looked the way it was supposed to.

"Alright Derek," Lydia said, "It's your turn."

Derek picked up a rectangular box that was about a foot long, six inches or so high, and six inches wide. It had red and green wrapping paper covered in reindeer. Stiles thought it was adorable. They had agreed they wouldn't share who they had gotten in the gift exchange. Derek slid the box across the circle toward Lydia. She smiled, assessing the box, no doubt trying to guess what was inside before she opened it. There was a card on the top; it was small, like a tag. She flipped it open and read, "To Lydia, From Derek. The smaller item is the gift, the bigger thing is an unrelated apology. Hope that doesn't break the rules."

Lydia glanced at Derek curiously. She tore the wrapping paper off and on top of the box there was a smaller thinner rectangular gift. She pulled the paper off that one and laughed to see Derek had replaced her copy of  _The Notebook_.

"Sorry I broke your original copy," Derek said.

Lydia laughed and set it aside. She opened the other box to reveal an expensive pair of shoes. The same ones Lydia had lost to water damage in the warehouse during their beach vacation. Stiles grinned when he saw Lydia's eyes fill with tears. She stood up and Derek stood at the same time. She hugged him; they were right in the middle of the circle. Stiles coughed, they both looked at him. He pointed up. Allison had gone over to Derek and thus dodged the mistletoe. Lydia and Derek had met halfway, perfectly caught in the trap. Derek raised an eyebrow at Stiles. Lydia watched him for permission.

"Go for it," Stiles said, "I've gotten with nearly everyone tonight."

Allison laughed; she was the only one he hadn't kissed. He winked at her and she gave him a thumbs-up. Allison was like his best female friend now; they'd bonded over the tree fort. Stiles and everyone else turned to watch the two in the middle. Stiles licked his lips, this was going to be electric, the two most dominant members of the pack. He wondered if Lydia would fight Derek for control of the kiss. She never had a chance; Derek wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, lips claiming her mouth. There was no tongue, but Lydia was helpless under Derek's onslaught. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She was unsteady when he set her back on her feet.

When Derek sat back onto the floor Stiles crawled over and licked at his lips, tasting the cherry lip balm that was there. If Derek could kiss away the evidence of anyone who got to him, Stiles was within his rights to do the same. He bit Derek's neck for good measure earning a gentle pat on the ass for his diligence.

"Well," Lydia said, still a little flustered. "I believe that means it's Jackson's turn."

Stiles looked at Jackson, was surprised that Jackson was staring at him already. There was a card resting on the floor in front of him, he picked it up and winged it across the circle. Stiles didn't manage to catch it so much as pin it to the carpet with his flailing hands. Jackson grinned at him.

"Before you open it," Jackson said, "The stuff inside isn't the gift, just the card. I didn't want to break the fifty dollar rule, so consider the other stuff whatever you want. The card is the gift."

Stiles regarded Jackson curiously. He opened the card; there was some sort of paper folded up inside of it. He set the paper aside and read the card. "To Stiles," he said, clearing his throat, "From Jackson. The trip to the beach may have been Derek's idea, but you were the person who made it the best experience of my life. You helped bring us all together, showed us things about each other that we'd been missing. It's because of you that I feel like I really have a family now. I hope you like the thing in this card that is not a gift because Lydia would get super pissed if she found out I broke the fifty dollar limit. P.S. Don't ever let her read this, okay? Thanks man. With love, Jackson."

"You sort of screwed me there you realize that right?" Jackson shifted uncomfortably and looked over at Lydia. Stiles looked at her also, grinned when he saw she was smiling.

"I think you're fine man," Stiles said, "now let's see what this paper is."

Stiles opened it and his mouth dropped open in shock. It was a confirmation for the rental of a lodge at a ski resort in Colorado, and the confirmation for six plane tickets. It was scheduled for the last two weeks of January.

"We can change the dates if we need, as long as we do it in the next two weeks." Jackson mumbled, "Well, I mean you can, you can take whoever you want."

Stiles gaped, it was ridiculous. The gift must have been expensive. "Jackson," Stiles said, "I don't know what to say. Of course I hope all of us can go."

"Go to what?" Scott perked up, craned his neck as if he could somehow read the card from across the circle. Stiles closed the paper up and put it back in the card. He crawled across the floor, passing out of the domain of the mistletoe before pulling Jackson into a hug. Jackson squeezed him back and Stiles returned to Derek's side, handed him the card. Derek whistled when he saw what was in it.

"What is it?" Scott didn't seem willing to let it go.

"We'll talk about it later; I want to get through everyone's gifts," Stiles said. Jackson's gift was so generous it could easily eclipse anything anyone else had gotten. He'd tell the pack in a few days to make sure everyone would have time to arrange their plans so they could go.

"Alright," Lydia said, "Next up is me." She pushed a fairly large box around Allison in front of Scott.

Scott rubbed his hands together in excitement before picking up the card. He opened it up, chuckling as he read out loud. "To Scott, I hope this helps you perfect your game further." He glanced curiously at Lydia as he tore off the white wrapping paper with snowflakes on it. Inside was a black leather bowling ball bag. He opened the bag to reveal a black bowling ball with what looked like golden claw marks raked around it. She'd clearly had it custom made for him. "Thanks Lydia," Scott said as he crawled over Allison's lap to give her a hug, "This is great."

"I'm glad you like it, we should arrange a three way bowling date sometime soon. Also, you're up next." Lydia settled back onto her heels, idly stroking the shoes Derek had gotten her. Stiles grinned, loved that Derek had gotten her something she really liked.

Scott had a card also, he stood up and walked behind Allison and Lydia and offered it down to Jackson. The blonde looked up at him in shock, took the card as Scott went back to sit down on the floor again looking at his own feet. Stiles watched as Jackson pulled out what looked like tickets to some sort of event. Jackson nibbled his lower lip nervously while holding his breath as he read the card, then scrubbed the back of his hand over his eyes.

"Two tickets to a hockey game," Jackson said. "Thanks man." He took a deep breath, let it out slowly.

"I figured you and Danny could go, or whoever." Scott was mumbling, still looking at his feet.

"What's the card say?" Lydia leaned over towards Jackson.

"I-it doesn't say anything, just a regular card, you know, to Jackson, from Scott." Jackson said defensively. He closed the card and held it against his chest.

Stiles glanced at Scott, noticed tension draining out of his shoulders. Stiles really wanted to know what was in that card. His thoughts were interrupted by Lydia clearing her throat.

"Okay, Stiles," she said, "That means it's your turn."

Stiles grinned, stood up and walked to the middle of the circle carrying a large box wrapped in white and neon green, a large green bow on the top. He held it out towards Allison. She stood up, but didn't meet him in the middle. She pointed to the mistletoe above his head.

"I figured I'd collect kisses from everyone, you know, to complete the set," Stiles joked.

Allison glanced at Scott who shrugged; he had a silly grin on his face though. Stiles turned to Derek, watched his shoulders shake with silent laughter. Stiles set the box down on the ground to the side. He held out his hand and Allison took it. He twirled her around so her back was to his chest, arm around her waist.

"I see you've been continuing practicing your dance moves."

"It's how I keep this rocking ass body looking so good." Stiles wasn't sure he liked how everyone chuckled at that. He shrugged it off, brought his other hand up to tilt Allison's head back so he could place his lips gently over hers. Her lips were soft like Lydia's had been, but where Lydia was confidant and bold, Allison was playful and teasing. He tried to be serious about it, but before they knew it they were both laughing, foreheads resting against each other.

"So creepy," Stiles said.

"Agreed, that was like kissing the brother I never had," Allison confirmed.

Stiles picked up the box and handed it to her; she took it and moved to sit back down next to Scott. Stiles settled in Derek's lap to watch Allison open the present. Derek pulled his head back to place a gentle kiss on his lips before letting him go. Stiles grinned, apparently he didn't need to try as hard to clear Allison's kiss from his lips, probably because Stiles had laughed during it.

She opened the card on the outside. "To Allison," she said, "From Stiles. Though I know a true friend can never be replaced once they're gone, sometimes finding a new friend can help fill the hole they've left behind."

Allison glanced at Stiles, curiosity in her eyes. Stiles grinned at her. She shook her head and opened the box. She squealed with delight as she pulled a white stuffed teddy bear out of the box. The bear was wearing a black hoody and had a small sticky note attached to its paw. She pulled the note off and read it to the group, "Please love me, cherish me, and above all please don't tase me ladybro." She smiled at him across the circle; they gave each other a thumbs-up at the same time.

The pack spent the rest of the night eating all the food they'd brought; Stiles's cookies were devoured with great fervor. There were no more mistletoe mistakes, and everyone helped clean up the mess they'd made. More than once everyone except for Allison added more money into the donations jar, at the end of the night she dropped in a twenty dollar bill. She must have felt guilty that she was the only one who didn't break any of Lydia's  _'Laws of Christmas_ ' aside from the time that everyone got charged watching Stiles kiss Jackson.

Derek held his hand as they waved goodbye to the rest of the pack and made their way to Derek's car. Stiles was bouncing excitedly, high on the sugar, the gifts, the laughter, and the closeness with his pack. Derek opened the car door for him, but before he got inside he turned and looked into Derek's eyes. "So," he said, "Was I good enough to get my  _really,_   _really_  special gift tonight?" He watched as Derek seemed to consider the idea, thought he could help sway Derek's opinion with a gentle peck on the lips. Derek grinned down at him.

"I don't know," he said, "I guess we'll have to go home and check to see if Santa left you anything under the tree."

Stiles scoffed at Derek, but let his boyfriend push him into the passenger seat of the car. Derek was such a tease, Stiles loved it. Derek opened the driver's side door of the car and climbed in.

"Hey Derek," Stiles said, "Just so you know, I got you a special gift too."

"Oh really?" Derek asked, his voice laced with curiosity.

"Yep, I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Stiles teased.

Derek gripped Stiles's hand and squeezed lightly, letting their hands rest on Stiles's leg. "I've already got everything I want for Christmas," Derek said, "But I'll more than happily inspect whatever it is you want to show me when we get home."

"Pervert," Stiles said as he reached into the small bag on the floor between his legs and pulled out a candy cane. He pulled the plastic off it and ran his tongue around the delicious peppermint goodness. He didn't look at Derek as he ate the treat, didn't comment on Derek's grip tightening or the increased speed of the car. He just enjoyed it, and tried to guess as to what it was that Derek was going to give him once they got home.


	2. Secret Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A brief look into what was going through Jackson's head, and what was in Scott's card.

* * *

Jackson's eyes widened when Scott offered him the card. He wasn't sure what to think as he tore the envelope open, tried to hide the slight shaking of his hands. This thing between them was always right under the surface of his mind, pulling at the edges of his thoughts. He loved Lydia, they weren't as physically affectionate in public as the other two couples in the pack, but that didn't invalidate what they had. They'd overcome a lot, she meant a lot to him, but Scott, Scott was something different.

The front of the card was a panoramic landscape view of a forest covered in snow, a bridge over a river that had turned to ice. He opened the card, two tickets to a hockey game slipped out. He didn't even glance to see what the teams were, or the date because his eyes immediately locked onto a sprawling, awkwardly crafted hand written message. It filled all the way from one side of the card's opening to the other. The stock greeting message in the middle of the one side had been blacked out with a permanent marker.

Scott's handwriting was cramped, he'd tried to fit a lot into the card, and he'd clearly spent a lot of time on it. Jackson could smell Scott's scent all over it, his hands most have brushed over it again and again as he worked on the message, even right next to the fire, surrounded by the smells of food and his pack, Jackson could easily pick it out.

_Jackson,_

_I'm not very good at this cause I'm not really good at talking about stuff. Or writing stuff or whatever. So I hope this makes sense._

_I wanted you to know that I know. Maybe even if I've never said anything about it I know. I see you watching me, at practice, at school, at lunch. Sometimes I can smell it when you've been outside my house even though you never knock and you never ask to come in or hang out._

_I wanted you to know that I feel it, and I watch you too. I don't know what it means, but it makes me feel good when you're around. You make me want to try harder. I know how hard you work to be good at everything, even though you're already good at everything._

_I feel guilty sometimes, because even though I love Allison, sometimes I'm awake at night, I'm sitting on the floor or unable to fall asleep in my bed and I think. I think about you. How you smell, how strong you are. I think about all of that and I wonder if maybe, in another life, if we could have something the way Derek and Stiles have their thing. I hope that doesn't make you hate me or gross you out or whatever._

_I really want to go with you to this game, but I'll understand if you want to take Lydia or Danny or one of your actual friends instead of me. I just want you to be happy, you don't smile very often, you don't laugh very often, but when you do it's like sunshine breaking through the clouds._

_God that was dumb sounding. Whatever. I just wanted you to know more than anything, I see you, I see it, and I know it's there in you. It's in me too; I just don't know what to do about it._

_Scott_

Jackson hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath. He released his lower lip from his teeth. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, hoping no one saw.

"Two tickets to a hockey game," he said. "Thanks man."

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, not sure what to do next. Scott's voice cut through his thoughts, brushed along the raw ends of his emotions that he hadn't gotten back into check. He could hear Scott's heartbeat thudding nervously, pistoning in his chest.

"I figured you and Danny could go, or whoever," Scott mumbled.

Jackson wondered if Scott knew what his heartbeat sounded like, if he had heard it tremble at the words. Six beats in the room, he didn't know which was Allison's, which belonged to Stiles, or even Derek's, but Jackson knew Lydia's, and he knew Scott's, and they were the two sounds he loved more than anything else. Everything Scott put in the letter was true; he didn't know what it was either, only that it was there, between them, the thing that they couldn't name and that never seemed to fully fade away.

"What's the card say?" Lydia tried to lean over to look at it.

"I-it doesn't say anything, just a regular card, you know, to Jackson, from Scott." Jackson said trying to not sound too defensive. He closed the card and held it against his chest. The rapid-fire thud of Scott's heartbeat leveled out, became the strong and even thump it usually was.

The hockey game was awesome, but just knowing that Scott knew, knowing that Scott saw something in him, felt something, that was better. Having gotten to kiss Scott, even if it was under the mistletoe because of Lydia's rules and the Holiday season, the fact that Scott was the one who initiated it, wouldn't let Jackson back out of it, that's what really made his night.

Jackson laughed more, smiled more, and enjoyed everything about their Christmas party a little bit more because of Scott's card, because of Scott's presence. It didn't matter if they couldn't say it, it was there, and that was enough. It was enough for now, to get him through this night and on to the next, where they would be at the end he didn't care. Allison, Derek, and Stiles, Lydia, and especially Scott, they were going to do it together, everything together, because they were a pack, and that's what packs did.


	3. The Little Things Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles exchange gifts.

* * *

Stiles fidgeted as Derek got out of the car. He wanted to jump out and run up to the building so that they could start opening their presents, but he knew that Derek liked to open the door for him and he liked to make Derek happy. It took Derek a small eternity to walk to the other side of the Camaro. Stiles tapped his foot impatiently. Didn't Derek understand how important presents were?

The door opened, but before he could turn in his seat to hop out, Derek crouched down and leaned into the car. He reached down between Stiles's legs to pick up the bag between his feet so he wouldn't have to carry it. Stiles closed his legs, trapping Derek's forearm with his knees. His boyfriend tilted his head and looked at him with a curious smile.

"Nope, I'm on to you, Sour Wolf," Stiles said. "You just want a sneak peak at the presents I've been hiding in here."

Derek leaned in, captured Stiles's mouth, but made no effort to pull his hand and the bag free from Stiles's legs. He kissed Derek back with fervor, gasping a little breathlessly as Derek seemingly tried to lick all of the residual peppermint flavor out of his mouth from the candy cane he'd eaten on the way home.

"Maybe I just wanted an excuse to be between your legs?" Derek said once he pulled back from their kiss. He had a teasing smile on his face.

"Not fooling me," Stiles said. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I know that you think you can get between my legs whenever you want so I know that's not it."

Derek leered at him and licked his lips. Stiles turned his face away; he couldn't watch Derek make sex faces without blushing. He shivered when Derek kissed the back of his head.

"Let's go inside. I want to watch you open your presents," Derek said. "And I want some hot chocolate, how about you?"

Derek was evil, in all the wonderful senses of the word. He parted his legs to free Derek's arm. The werewolf withdrew without trying to take the bag again. Stiles was very pleased as he grabbed the bag from the floor and hopped out of the car. Derek closed the door and wrapped a possessive arm around his shoulders as they walked towards the door to his apartment, or condo, or whatever the building was officially called. Stiles waited impatiently for Derek to unlock the door.

"I can stay here tonight right? My dad already said it was fine." Stiles was nervous, he didn't really think that Derek would say no, but for some reason he was occasionally hit by moments where he was afraid that Derek was going to come to his senses and realize that there was no reason he should be with a stupid high school kid who couldn't focus on anything for more than a few minutes.

Derek let go of the keys in the door, didn't even finish unlocking it. Stiles was looking away at the bushes next to the side of the pathway they were standing on that led up to the front of the building. He felt Derek's hands take his shoulder and turn him so that he was facing the older man, felt Derek's warm hand tilt his head up so that he was looking up into Derek's eyes.

"You can stay here whenever you want," Derek said. He kissed Stiles's nose and pulled him into a hug. Stiles could barely breath it was so tight. It was perfect. "Don't be nervous, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not letting you go anywhere. I want you to think about this place as a second home for you, our home."

Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's waist and turned his face into Derek's chest. Derek could have gotten him a stocking filled with coal as long as he kept saying things like that, kept holding onto him so tightly.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't get me a stocking filled with coal, right? I've been good." Stiles had meant to say something else, but he really didn't want a stocking filled with he thought his brain went stupid on purpose just to frustrate him.

Derek laughed and kissed the top of his head. "I don't know," he said. "I guess you'll have to find out." Derek paused for a moment before continuing to unlock the door. "Where's your overnight bag?"

"I've got a toothbrush and stuff in this bag," Stiles said as he swished the bag in his hands.

"What about clothes?"

Stiles blushed. "Did I need those? I thought maybe I'd just—"

"You wanted to borrow some of mine for the little bit of time you'd need them," Derek said. "Or you didn't think you'd need clothes at all?"

Stiles's ears were red, he knew they were. "A little bit of both I guess. I just like wearing your clothes. It's like… it's like you're all around me when I do. I may not have wolf senses but even my silly human nose can smell you on your clothes, and I like it when that smell is on me."

Derek made a tiny little growl of approval that went right to Stiles's tummy. "Let's get inside," Derek said as he finally finished unlocking and opening the door. Stiles was all about that plan. Derek held the door open and gestured for him to walk inside. Stiles almost tripped over the threshold, his brain was fogged over with excitement. He had offered to meet Derek rather than wait to for him to come pick him up, but he'd been told that Derek had a surprise at his place and didn't want Stiles to see it until after the party.

"So, you make the hot chocolate while I put presents in the living room on the table?" He let Derek pull his coat off to hang it in the hallway closet.

Derek took his hand and led him towards the living room. "You can put them under the tree," Derek said. "I figured you'd want one."

Stiles's mouth fell open as he walked into the living room. Derek had rearranged everything. He had an electric fireplace that the couch and a coffee table normally sat in front of. All of that stuff was arranged against the walls near the bookshelves. To the left of the fireplace there was a miniature Christmas tree, it was about half as tall as Stiles. There were wrapped presents resting underneath it. On the floor directly in front of the fireplace there were pillows, cushions, and blankets set up like a miniature fort, parts of it were attached to various pieces of furniture to hold it steady. Stiles loved it.

"Derek," Stiles said as he turned and wrapped his arms around Derek's waist. "It's perfect."

Derek leaned down and kissed him again, a quick and gentle brushing of lips. "Put the presents under the tree, then we'll change and I'll show you our fort." Derek brushed his hands over Stiles's short hair. "Don't tell anyone, but I was a little jealous we didn't have a fort of our own."

Stiles grinned, got up on the tips of his toes and pulled Derek down into another kiss. "It's awesome." Stiles said. "It would have been enough of a present on its own."

"I don't know about that," Derek said. "It'll probably get torn down when I give you your final present of the night."

Stiles blinked in confusion for a second. "What do you… oh…  _Oh_!"

Derek laughed. "Come on, let's change and get the hot cocoa."

Stiles grinned, Derek saying the word 'cocoa' was hilariously adorable. "Say it again."

"Say what?"

"Cocoa," Stiles said. "Say it again."

Derek laughed. "Cocoa".

"God you're adorable."

Derek flicked him in the nose. Stiles gaped. He pushed Derek, but Derek didn't budge at all, if he was being honest with himself, Stiles would have to admit that he might have been the one who moved backwards a little.

"I'm not adorable," Derek huffed.

Stiles laughed, that was adorable too. Derek growled at him. Stiles laughed harder. Derek frowned, Stiles laughed even harder because Derek probably thought he was scowling, but it was just pouting. Derek stepped closer then suddenly grabbed him and spun him against the wall. Stiles laughed again even though Derek tried to snarl at him and act threatening. Derek's mouth hung open in shock for a moment before he started pouting again.

"I'm not scary at all anymore?"

"It's just…" Stiles chuckled a little, "I'm not really scared of your wolf hugs anymore. Most of the time it's just hot, but right now, I can't stop laughing."

"Wolf hugs?" Derek frowned again.

Stiles leaned forward since Derek's forearm across his chest wasn't really holding him to the wall very hard and kissed Derek on the nose. He grinned as Derek's mouth opened and closed soundlessly.

"Yeah, I know all you werewolves have trouble with your words, so sometimes you just need to slam each other about to show your affection. I love it when you slam me about," Stiles said.

Derek's eyes got wider and wider during his explanation. "But, you're supposed to be scared of me sometimes. That's my advantage."

Stiles grinned and poked Derek in the stomach. "Nope, I have all the advantages. That's who I am, Stiles, advantage guy."

Derek leaned forward slowly. Stiles blinked at him as he got closer. Derek stepped between his legs, and nosed against his neck. Stiles grunted in surprise at the friction suddenly applied to his groin, then gasped when Derek's tongue darted across his throat. Stiles was starting to get interested, his dick perking up at the sudden shift in mood. Derek nipped him with a little more force than was normal and Stiles covered his mouth to muffle the tiny little whine that Derek dragged out of him. Derek pulled back suddenly and Stiles stumbled forward blinking in confusion.

"Nope, looks like I still have one," Derek said. "Now, how about that hot  _cocoa_."

Derek was evil, in all the horrible senses of the word. Stiles huffed as he adjusted his now lonely dick into a better position. He was only slightly vindicated at the possessive smoldering look in Derek's eyes when he had his hand on himself.

Stiles decided to not talk to Derek as punishment for his crimes. He walked around the werewolf and pulled the presents out of the bag he was still holding and placed them under the tree. All that was left in the bag was candy canes. He hung a few of them on the branches of the miniature Christmas tree.

"How many marshmallows do you want in your cocoa?" Derek's voice drifted from the kitchen. Stiles clapped his hand over his mouth to keep from responding. Derek wasn't going to get off that easy this time, it didn't matter how many marshmallows he had. "They're the little mini ones you like," Derek said.

Stiles bit his knuckle, mini-marshmallows were delicious, and if the improper amount were used it could be catastrophic. Stiles had watched in forlorn dismay as Scott over enthusiastically ruined many a cup of hot chocolate over the years.

"I've also got whipped cream do you want some of that?"

Stiles's spine started tingling at the memories of whipped cream and strawberries, of sausage links and beds and Derek's lips and it was not fair. Derek wasn't playing nicely. "Sevmphh," Stiles mumbled around the knuckle in his mouth.

"Okay I couldn't even understand that with supernatural hearing," Derek said as he stuck his head back into the living room. "Use your words."

"S-E-V-E-N," Stiles said after pulling his hand out of his mouth, "Seven is the appropriate number of mini-marshmallows for the average sized cup of hot cocoa."

Derek blinked at him confused momentarily at the exact science of his answer, but then grinned as he pulled a gigantic coffee mug out from behind his back. It was blue, with ' _Stiles_ ' written on it in white lettering. "How about for this, how many mini-marshmallows for this sized cup of cocoa?"

Stiles didn't squeal at the site of the cup. He simply announced his happiness. If it was a little high pitched and he'd jumped a bit when he did it that was just an expression of his manly enthusiasm. He eyed the cup, assessing the amount of fluid it would probably hold. "Let's start with eleven, it's conservative I know, but better to build up rather than over saturate. Some things require a bit of experimentation to get right," Stiles said as he walked over to join Derek in the kitchen.

Derek was blinking at him again; apparently he didn't know it was conservative to use eleven mini-marshmallows in a cup of that size. Stiles patted his back consolingly; it must have been a scary thing to grow up without having learned the appropriate portions of deliciousness. Derek raised an eyebrow at him but didn't ask. It was probably better that way. Stiles was too interested in opening presents and drinking cocoa to teach Derek the delicate and exact science of chemistry.

Stiles grinned as Derek counted the number of marshmallows he dropped into the cup to make sure it was the number Stiles wanted. When Derek was finished and pushed the cup towards him, Stiles took a candy cane out of the bag he still had, unwrapped it and used it to stir the cocoa.

Derek gave him a curious look, but Stiles just said, "Don't knock it till you try it." He watched Derek fix himself a cup of the hot chocolate too, adding the same amount of marshmallows as he had to Stiles's. He had a matching mug but his was reversed in colors, it was white with ' _Derek_ ' written out in blue. Stiles loved it too. Derek took the whip cream out of the refrigerator and gestured towards Stiles with it. Stiles blushed. Derek grinned and added some of it to the top of his cup of hot chocolate.

"You want some of this?" Derek raised an eyebrow at him. Stiles did, he very much did. He kissed Derek, licked against his lips when Derek made a surprised noise against his mouth. Derek chuckled and pushed him away lightly. "I meant the whip cream, on your hot chocolate, did you want any?"

Stiles shrugged, stirred his drink with the candy cane. "Maybe," he said. "Is it good?"

Derek held out his glass so that Stiles could take a sip. Stiles grinned. He took a drink, it was delicious. Eleven had been the right number of marshmallows. Derek leaned closer to him and licked a trace of whip cream that must have still been on his mouth. Either that or Derek was just using that as an excuse to get himself another taste of Stiles's lips. He was cool with it either way.

"I'm okay on the whip cream," Stiles said. If he had any on his he'd get it all over his hands and face, and while Derek would be diligent in getting it off for him they'd never get to open their presents if they went down that road.

"Do I get to try yours?" Derek eyeed the cup in Stiles's hands with the candy cane in it. Stiles held it out for him the same way Derek had done. He grinned as Derek leaned in and took an experimental sip, then laughed as his eyes got wide. "That's amazing."

Stiles winked at him and pulled the last candy cane that he hadn't hung on the tree out of the bag in his hand after setting his mug on the counter. He unwrapped it for Derek, and although he didn't need to, he licked it once before dropping it into Derek's hot chocolate. For all he knew it was the taste of Stiles on the candy cane and not the peppermint flavor that Derek thought was amazing. He figured he should try to strive for full authenticity. The grin on Derek's face made it seem like he agreed.

"Ok, so as Allison said earlier, can it be present time?" Stiles was finished with waiting. Waiting was bullshit. Presents were awesome.

"No," Derek said. "First we need to get you out of those clothes and into some of mine."

"Oh really? Are you going to help me with the undressing and redressing."

"I'm really only a helping with the undressing part kind of guy." Derek set his mug on the counter, and pulled Stiles into a hug. Stiles didn't protest when Derek turned him around, tucked his hands into the back pockets of Stiles's pants, and steered him towards the bedroom.

' _We are not about to have sex we are not about to have sex we are not about to have sex,'_  Stiles desperately thought to his dick that was getting the wrong idea.

"I know. We're going to open presents," Derek said.

Stiles gasped; once again his inner monologue had gone public without him realizing it. Derek kissed the back of his neck as they got into the bedroom. "Can I wear your black sweatshirt?"

Derek tilted his head to the side, whether he was considering the question or wasn't sure what shirt Stiles meant wasn't obvious. Stiles turned and opened Derek's closet, pulled the sweatshirt he was talking about off the hangar, it had a white Celtic knot pattern on the back.

"You can wear whatever you want," Derek said as he pulled the shirt he was wearing off and dropped it into the laundry basket.

"Can you wear whatever I want too?"

Derek laughed. "No, if I did that I'd be naked and cold."

"I could keep you warm," Stiles said as he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Derek bonked him on the head. Stiles's mouth dropped open. Derek had just bonked him, curled up his hand in a fist, and tapped it on the top of Stiles's head. Derek was now officially ridiculous.

The look on his face just seemed to make Derek laugh more. Stiles couldn't help but smile. Sometimes he was shocked when he heard Derek laugh. Sure, he heard him chuckle here and there, but that full belly shaking laugh was so rare. Stiles wanted to record it every time it happened so that he could play it back when he was home alone in his room at his father's house wishing Derek was in bed with him.

Well, wishing he was in a bigger bed with Derek. Whenever they slept at his house Stiles had to sleep on top of Derek, which was good, except that when he tried to go to sleep sprawled out over Derek like that, the werewolf would never let him sleep. He just kept rubbing, stroking, and kissing. Stiles had human stamina that wasn't inexhaustible no matter how many people made jokes about teenage boys always being ready for sex. He was a growing boy. He needed his sleep.

As far as mornings went, they were even worse. Derek seemed to always be awake before him, always knew when Stiles had morning wood; it was like the smell of it could wake Derek up no matter how tired the werewolf was. Stiles didn't want to sound ungrateful, because he was so utterly grateful, but sometimes he just wanted to sleep in instead of waking up to Derek nosing into his crotch. He thought about that, no, he was a liar; he'd rather wake up every morning for the rest of his life with Derek nosing into him. If he could only get him on a schedule where he did it a couple of hours later in the morning.

"You're having sex thoughts," Derek said. He was still shirtless and poking around in his dresser not looking at Stiles. Stiles stared at Derek's naked back and licked his lips, trailing his eyes down to Derek's ass. "It's getting worse." Derek looked over his shoulder.

Stiles coughed and turned away. He took his shirt off then pulled Derek's sweatshirt over his head. He took a deep breath, it smelled so good. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Derek pulling a pair of pajama pants over his naked ass. No underwear, that meant he'd easily be able to see the outline of Derek's junk in those pants. There was no way he was going to be able to focus on presents. He thought about asking Derek to help him out a little, take the edge off before they settled in for presents, but if he did he knew it'd just make Derek refuse so that he'd be worked up by the time they got down to business.

He sighed, he was so unlucky sometimes, and then undid his belt and let his pants fall to the floor. Stiles gasped as he felt Derek's hand gently pat the back of his ass. He hadn't heard Derek close the distance between them. He still wasn't wearing a shirt.

"Hey, hey, hey there handsy," Stiles said, hopping away from Derek's pawing. "Keep your head in the game, we've got presents!"

Stiles blushed; Derek was staring at his crotch. "Those are new," Derek said, eyes focused below Stiles's waist.

"Maybe you've just never seen them before, unless you've gone through my underwear drawer like a pervert," Stiles said.

Derek leered at him again, but didn't acknowledge or deny if he had done such a thing. Stiles looked down at his lower body, tugging the sweatshirt up out of the way so he could get a better view. He was wearing black boxers that had a white smiley face on them, its red tongue licking its lips. The tongue was more or less right over his naughty bits. His dick stirred a little bit at all the attention it was suddenly getting, but it wasn't quite sure if it was go time.

Stiles gasped as Derek reached out and rubbed his hand across Stiles's exposed stomach, fingers gently dipping beneath the waistband of his boxers. "Presents, it's time for presents right now," Derek said.

Stiles leaned into Derek's touch, stumbled a little when Derek suddenly turned away. Apparently Derek had meant presents when he said presents and not blowjobs. He patted his junk in apology at the confusion.

"You're not wearing a shirt? I'm not wearing pants? Is that how we're doing presents?" Stiles started padding barefoot into the hall after Derek. He loved the feeling of the carpet on his toes.

"Don't want to waste time with them later," Derek called out from the living room.

Stiles fist pumped the air before joining him. He walked over to the front of the blanket fort in time to see Derek's ass wiggle as he crawled inside. It took his breath away.

"You want to open the presents inside there?"

"Yeah," Derek said. "Just hand them to me then get your ass in here and cuddle with me, I've already got our hot chocolate in here. Well, I have our pretty warm chocolate anyway."

Derek was the ultimate boyfriend, while Stiles was having a make believe conversation with his man parts, Derek was busy setting up a wonderful evening, maybe Stiles was really the pervert in their relationship. He laughed when Derek's hands came out of the front of the fort and made little grabby motions waiting for Stiles to put the presents in his hands.

"Ok," Stiles said. "Just a sec."

Stiles knelt down on the ground in front of the tree and started picking up packages to hand to Derek. There was no way he was going to give Derek the ones he'd gotten for him first. He barely resisted the urge to shake and listen to the presents he handed to Derek to try to figure out what they were. Most of them were heavy and solid; the one was obviously some article of clothing. He was starting to feel bad, he'd only gotten Derek two things, but one of them he'd spent a lot of time on, and the other one was pretty personal. He hoped it evened out. He was starting to feel like a shitty boyfriend.

He hugged the two presents he got for Derek to his chest and shimmied under the blanket door to the fort as Derek held it open for him. He set the two presents down and started to sit down across from Derek, but before he got comfortable Derek reached out and pulled him forward. He sighed but let Derek arrange him how we wanted, Stiles sitting between Derek's outstretched legs he leaned against one of the walls of the blanket fort that must have been against the couch or wall. It was hard to tell from inside what was where. He loved that it was so warm inside with the opening pointed right at the electric fireplace. He leaned back onto Derek's naked chest and smiled when Derek kissed his neck.

"Okay, this is how we're going to do this," Derek said. "I'm going to watch you open all your presents first." Stiles started to interrupt him, but before he could Derek covered his mouth with his hand. Biting at the werewolf's fingers didn't seem to bother or distract him at all. Neither did licking against his palm. "Then, after you're done, I'll do whatever you want that doesn't involve sex, and then I'll give you the last present, the special one, for being everything that I've ever wanted and being good tonight."

Stiles stopped struggling as Derek spoke; his eyes got all wet by the end of it. He tilted his head back and around when Derek let go of his face. "Okay, we'll do it your way," Stiles said. He got a kiss for acquiescing.

Derek grabbed one of the packages from the pile next to him and set it down on the ground between Stiles's legs. It was one of the heavier and bigger ones. Stiles rubbed his hands together in excitement before picking it up and starting to tear the paper off. Derek's weight shifted under him slightly as he reached to take a drink of his hot chocolate.

Stiles finished pulling the paper free from what turned out to be a book. It was fairly old looking, there was an old artist's rendering of a werewolf on it. He flipped the book open, there was an inscription on the inside cover along with a DVD. He glanced at the DVD curiously, but read the writing on the inside; it was in Derek's handwriting.

_Stiles,_

_For your curiosity_

_Love,_   
_Derek_

"The DVD has notes about which parts of the book are correct and which parts are junk," Derek said. "I didn't want to highlight in the book because it's old." The werewolf rubbed his hands over Stiles's arms. Stiles turned his head back for another kiss. Derek placed another package in front of him as he took the wrapping from the first and pushed it into a small plastic bag he'd brought into the fort with them.

"That's really awesome Derek," Stiles said. He was starting to think his presents weren't good enough. He reached out for the new one Derek had put in front of him. He tore off the paper to reveal another book. The next two were more books. They were all about werewolves. It was amazing, he'd seen one or two of them in the past, and some of them were completely new to him.

"The DVD has notes for all the books. It's not like a table of contents or anything, it's not fancy, I just typed out the page numbers and sections or whatever," Derek said, like somehow it wasn't the most amazing thing ever. Stiles was floored. He never thought Derek would go through so much trouble, would trust Stiles enough to even give him all that information.

"It's awesome, they're all awesome, you're awesome," Stiles said. He should have tried harder on Derek's presents. He took a drink of his now very pepperminty hot chocolate. It was awesome too. The fort was awesome. The blankets were awesome. The only thing that wasn't awesome was how much this was better than what Stiles had planned. Derek kissed the back of his head again, because Derek was awesome despite that fact that Stiles was not awesome. Stiles was starting to think he needed a new word other than awesome.

"Last one, this one is my favorite," Derek said. Stiles swallowed nervously. He really was a terrible boyfriend, especially if this last thing was better than all the books.

"Is this the special present you promised?" Stiles hoped that it was, he wasn't going to be able to compete with even more.

"Nope," Derek said. Stiles could tell he was smiling by the way his voice sounded. Derek leaned forward and rested his chin on Stiles's shoulder so he could watch him unwrap the present. Stiles shivered when Derek kissed behind his ear. "That's something more special."

Stiles chewed his lower lip nervously as he reached out a shaky hand to pick up the last gift. It was the one that he thought was some type of clothing. He hoped it was silly and ridiculous, like a costume for sex or something. He didn't know what he'd do if it was something personal and thoughtful and wonderful.

Derek's arms wrapped around his waist, pulled him back across the floor a little bit to hold onto him tightly as he started to pull the paper off the gift. It was something made out of white cotton. He pulled the paper all the way off to reveal a simple white hooded sweatshirt. Stiles grinned. That was cool.

"Turn it over," Derek said. His voice was full of soft excitement. Stiles swallowed nervously again, he turned it over. On the back, in electric blue was the image of the triskele. The same one that was on Derek's back. It was the same one that had been on the white vest he'd worn the night of the rave. The vest that had been torn up and ruined by Derek's claws the night he'd gone insane. It was perfect. Nothing he had was as good as that gift. He sniffled a little and scrubbed his hand across his face.

"Seeing you in that vest, with my mark on your back, it made me realize how much I wanted you. I hope it's not too painful a memory for you. You saw me being a monster, but somehow, even after everything was over, you still loved me," Derek whispered. Stiles leaned back into Derek, but covered his hands with his face. He was crying softly. Derek ran soothing hands over his stomach, patted him gently trying to calm him down. "If you don't like it I'd understand," Derek said.

"You're stupid." A little hiccupping sob came out of Stiles's mouth. "It's perfect. You're perfect."

Derek kept patting him gently, kissed the side of his head and neck. Stiles felt so stupid, he was crying like a little kid. He hated himself. Derek deserved someone more mature, more awesome. Derek didn't say anything, just let him cry for a little while then offered him a small handful of napkins. He hiccupped again and used them to wipe his face off before dropping them into the bag of trash. Stiles wanted to throw his gifts in the trash too, he wanted to tell Derek they were just a joke and his real presents just hadn't arrived yet. Derek pulled one arm up from Stiles's waist and stroked it through his hair soothingly.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Stiles said, even though he knew Derek would know it for the lie it was.

"I'm sorry if this stuff wasn't what you wanted," Derek said. "I should have got you that Xbox motion detecting video game box, but your dad told me he'd hunt me down if I did because he thought you'd break everything in the living room playing with it."

Stiles laughed. Derek was so stupid. He thought Stiles was upset because his gifts weren't good enough? He leaned forward a little and then bumped his back against Derek's chest trying to knock the wind out of him. Derek didn't even grunt, Stiles felt like he'd smashed his back into a living wall of muscle, which made sense cause that's pretty much what he'd just done. "Don't be dumb. They're perfect. I just…" he paused, didn't know how to go on.

Derek just rubbed his fingers through Stiles's hair some more. It felt good; Derek always knew what to do to make him feel better. He sighed; he might as well get it over with. He leaned forward and grabbed the smaller of the two presents; he figured he'd lead with the best one to try to make Derek happy. He offered it over his shoulder. Derek took it with the hand that had been stroking his hair.

Stiles felt Derek sit up straighter behind him, then he was being pulled backwards by the arm around his waist. Derek seemed to want to open the gift while wrapped around Stiles, leaning over his shoulder as he unwrapped it in Stiles's lap. He tilted his head against the side of Derek's face. Let the rise and fall of Derek's breathing gently rock him forwards and backwards.

Derek pulled the wrapping off the paper, dropping it onto the blankets underneath them, between Stiles's legs. Underneath all the paper there was a large black box. Derek opened it to reveal two bracelets. They were black leather that had been threaded through multiple small seashells. At the tops of the bracelets there were little gleaming metal plates with an engraving on each one. Both the plates were the same even though one of the bracelets was smaller, meant for a smaller wrist. Derek pulled the larger one out and tilted it so he could see the inscription. There was a stylized uppercase ' _D_ ' with a stylized uppercase ' _S_ '. The top of the 'S' had been placed so the swerve at the top wrapped around and through the bottom of the 'D'.

Derek took a deep breath; it expanded his chest enough that it rocked Stiles forward a little bit more. Derek ran his fingers over the shells of various sizes on the bracelet. The jeweler had used almost all the shells he'd found on the beach other than the one he'd let Derek keep, the one Stiles had cut his hand open on. There were only a few of the larger ones left. They were still at home on his dresser, arranged around the picture of his mother he'd taken on their trip just the same way Derek had put them on their nightstand at the house on the beach.

Stiles held his breath when Derek didn't say anything. He felt dumb. Not only did he not have a great gift, but half of it was for him. He'd had matching bracelets with the first letters of their names inscribed on them. It wasn't even like platinum or whatever, it was just metal. He thought it was steel. He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember because he was a terrible boyfriend. Derek set the bigger bracelet back in the box and took the smaller one out. Stiles finally let out the breath he was holding and took another. Derek set the box down on the floor between Stiles's legs, used the hand that wasn't holding the bracelet to grab Stiles's wrist. Derek fit the bracelet over Stiles's hand and tilted his head on Stiles's shoulder to see it better.

"They're beautiful," Derek said. "They're perfect."

Stiles started breathing normally again. Derek let Stiles put the larger bracelet on his right wrist. The smaller one was on Stiles's left. Derek normally walked on Stiles's left side, holding his left hand. This way, the bracelets would be close to each other. He thought it had been cute at the time, but next to what Derek had done it seemed dumb. Seashells, he was such an idiot. Derek kissed the side of his neck again. Stiles shivered at the feel of Derek's lips and tilted his head against Derek's again.

"This is amazing," Derek said. "You're amazing."

Stiles lightly pushed his elbow into Derek's stomach. "Whatever," Stiles said. "It was dumb. I should have thought of something different."

Derek reached out with the hand his bracelet was on and used it to tilt Stiles's head back. Stiles looked into Derek's eyes. He thought that there might have been traces of wetness in them. Derek leaned forward and kissed him hard enough that it took Stiles's breath away.

"Don't do that," Derek said after releasing him.

"Don't do what?"

"Don't act like the things you do don't mean anything. Don't act like you're not the most thoughtful person anyone you know has ever met. Don't ever think that you're anything but amazing," Derek said and kissed him again. "No one, and I mean  _no one_  gets to put my boyfriend down, especially not you."

Stiles felt giddy, he wanted to laugh. Derek had just called him ' _boyfriend_ ' for the first time. He kissed Derek again even though his neck was starting to ache from being at such a strained angle. It didn't matter, Derek mattered. Derek loving his Christmas present mattered. Derek not thinking he was a stupid kid mattered. Those were the only things that did matter.

"I can't wait to see the second one," Derek said.

Stiles stomach dropped away again. The second one, the one that wasn't even as good as the seashell bracelets, that was going to be a problem. He sighed as he grabbed the long and thick rectangular package. Derek adjusted Stiles again so that Derek was able to lean forward against his back again. Stiles's shirt had gotten rucked up a bit and he could feel the heat of Derek's abdomen against the small of his back.

Derek tore the paper off to reveal what was very obviously a photo album, or maybe it was a scrapbook. He didn't really know the difference between them. On the front it said  _'You and Me and All of Us'_.

Derek flipped the book open to look at the first page and gasped. There were pictures of Derek when he was a child. Some of them were him in school pictures; one was of him in a tiny football jersey. There was one of him that was a mug shot, but you couldn't really see his face because of his werewolf laser beam eyes.

"How did you?"

"Shhh, just wait. I'll tell you after you look through it," Stiles said. He stroked Derek's arms and the backs of his hands as Derek turned to the next page. There were pictures of Derek's family. His sister Laura as a child, school pictures, pictures of the two of them together with their parents and pictures with just them by themselves. Derek had stopped breathing. Stiles was worried and rubbed his arms soothingly. He felt something wet fall on the skin where his neck met his shoulder. He felt Derek's body tremble behind him. Was Derek crying? That was even rarer than the laughter. Stiles hoped it was a good cry and not a bad cry. There wasn't any enraged wolf monster gnawing through his back so he had to assume it was good.

"How did you?"

That was the last of the Hale pictures, though the next page was blank. Stiles had pictures of Peter, but he didn't know if Derek would have wanted them in there. Stiles didn't know if Derek ever thought about the person Peter was before he'd become a bad guy. Someday, when it wasn't so emotional, he'd ask him about it.

" I might have bribed Danny and taken him to the police station. I might have caused a distraction while he accessed government databases and files and search engines to pull pictures off the net of you and your family. I mean, it could have gone down like that," Stiles said.

There was no way he was going to tell Derek that he may have used a couple of not exactly naughty but still mostly unclothed Derek pictures he'd taken with his phone during pack training exercises and while Derek was asleep or getting dressed to bribe Danny into delving back into his criminal roots. Some things were better left unsaid. Things like that. Some of the pictures he'd been able to find on his own, Google was the bomb, but his e-stalking skills were nowhere near the level of professionalism that Danny had.

Stiles reached down and grabbed some of the napkins and offered them over his shoulder to Derek without commenting on Derek's tears. He knew that Derek wouldn't want him to see him like that so he didn't turn around either. Derek, after seemingly having cleaned himself up kissed Stiles's neck again.

"What did you use to bribe Danny?" Derek asked in a way that kind of made it seem like he already knew.

"Oh look," Stiles said. "There's more pages in this book, let's see what's on them."

Derek grunted in a very knowing way as he turned the page. He didn't comment on the blank one, but glanced at the next. That one had pictures of Stiles as a child. Pictures of him in school, in a little soccer uniform, and even one of him looking like he was about to fall in a lake as a little boy. He looked happy, with a huge grin on his face; he clearly hadn't realized he was about to fall when the picture had been snapped. That had been his mom's favorite picture of him. The rest were arranged around it. Derek chuckled, the movement making Stiles's body shake with him.

He turned the next page and there were pictures of Stiles's family, along with Scott and the other members of the McCall family, there was even one of Scott's dad. There were pictures of Scott and Stiles blowing out candles on each other's birthdays. They'd made a pact that they'd share every birthday wish as they were growing up. They gave up the tradition when Scott's dad never came home and Stiles's mother died.

There were pictures of his mother mixed in with all the others. In almost every one of them she was making a silly face or teasing one of the little boys. There was one of her and Melissa dumping buckets of water on their husbands as tiny versions of Scott and Stiles threw their hands up, mouths open like they were cheering. Their dads looked shocked, Stiles couldn't remember who took the picture, but his father had told him it was one of Scott's dad's friends who was on the camping trip with them.

The picture that he had on the nightstand at home wasn't in this photo album though. It was selfish but it was just for him. It was one of the only ones that existed where she was just smiling that little mischievous smile.

"This one is my favorite," Derek said as he pointed to a picture in the corner. The picture had been taken by Stiles's father. It was Stiles as a toddler, asleep on top of his mother as she slept on the couch. She was covering his back protectively with both her hands. That picture was one of Stiles's favorites too. He wiped at his eyes with his hands again.

Derek turned the page. These pictures were the start of the section that covered the pack; the first page was of the pack's vacation at the beach. The first few pages were all pictures that included at least two members of the pack. Most of them from the day they spent together and playing games. Derek laughed at pictures of Jackson and Scott wrestling on the beach. Rubbed his thumb fondly over the picture of Allison and Stiles playing cat's cradle on the swing, he made a tiny jealous growl at the picture of Lydia putting suntan lotion on Stiles's back. Stiles chuckled and patted his leg soothingly.

Each of the following pages had pictures of individual members of the pack alone, not just from the vacation, but from other times also. He'd collected them over the past few weeks. There was a picture of Lydia surrounded by a mountain of discarded clothes wearing only a bathrobe. She was going to kill him if she realized he'd taken it with his phone while trying to help her find the perfect outfit for a date she was going on with Jackson. It was his favorite.

There was a picture of Jackson on the beach. You couldn't see his face; he was sitting with his arms around his legs. It was sunset and his back was to the camera. Stiles had used the camera to zoom in on him. Jackson didn't know the picture was being taken at all; Stiles had been on the second floor terrace at the back of the house. He looked incredibly content to Stiles when he'd taken the picture, but as he looked at it again now, after having seen him tonight, he wondered if Jackson was lonely there on the beach, or waiting for someone.

Stiles favorite picture of Allison was of her walking carefully along the rocks at the base of the garden that was at the back of the house. Her arms outstretched. She looked graceful, caught mid-laugh with her eyes closed, one leg out about to take another step.

The next page had Scott. Stiles pointed to a picture of Scott with his tongue out in concentration. Allison had snapped it during the epic Hungry, Hungry, Hippos dual. Scott's eyes were full of the joy of competition. Derek chuckled and pointed to one where Scott was on the beach trying to do a handstand, the picture captured the moment he was toppling over backwards. Allison had been trying to show Jackson and Scott how to do it, but wolf strength and speed didn't help them perform the same graceful acrobatics that came so easily to her.

The last page had pictures of Derek and Stiles together that had been taken by other members of the pack. Stiles didn't even remember most of them. His favorite one though was Derek in the hammock, with Stiles nestled into his side. It had been when they got back from the ice cream parlor. Stiles had been so tired, mostly because of Derek's antics in the bathroom there, but they looked so peaceful in this picture. Scott had been the one to take the picture. He'd told Stiles that Allison did, but Allison told him the truth when they were building their 'No Wolves' fort.

Derek closed the book and set it aside. "That was the best present I've ever gotten," Derek said. He placed a gentle kiss against Stiles's hair.

"I kind of thought that was the weaker of the two," Stiles said.

"That's because you're the dumb one," Derek said.

Stiles opened his mouth to remind Derek that no one was allowed to be mean to him, but before he could Derek shifted underneath him, pushing him to the side of the blanket fort that wasn't littered with paper scraps, giant mugs of hot chocolate, and gifts. Stiles grunted softly as Derek used his head to nudge Stiles into rolling over onto his back. Derek straddled his hips and grabbed a pillow. He waited for Stiles to lift his head so he could put it underneath.

The fort was warm, but not nearly as warm as Derek's skin. Stiles smiled up at him. Derek leaned down and kissed him, whispered against his lips, "I want to give you the special present now, okay?"

Derek sounded nervous; it didn't really make sense to Stiles. He rubbed soothing hands over Derek's naked shoulders and back. "Okay," Stiles said. "Just tell me what you want me to do."

"I will." Derek paused for a moment before continuing to kiss Stiles again. "Just give me a second, I'm a little nervous."

Stiles had no idea what it was that could be making Derek so nervous. If Derek was nervous about something and sex, Stiles was slightly terrified that he wasn't going to live through whatever it was. He couldn't wait for it though; Derek always made it good for him. He wanted to give Derek whatever it was that he wanted. He just needed Derek to tell him what it was.

"You're the only male I've ever been with," Derek said as he looked down into Stiles's eyes. "I… I want you to make love to me; I want you to be my first. I love you."

Stiles blinked, tried to process what Derek was saying. He licked his lips nervously, he didn't know what to say, didn't know if he could make it good for Derek the way that Derek made everything amazing for him.

"I've… I've never done anything like that," Stiles said. "But I'll do anything for you. I love you too." He hoped he could do it right, make Derek feel good, make it everything he wanted it to be. He swallowed nervously as Derek leaned down to kiss him again.


	4. All the Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek thinks about all the reasons he loves Stiles.

* * *

Derek looked down at the boy underneath him. He was so beautiful it hurt. They were in a place of shadows and half-light. The blankets and sheets that acted as the walls and the ceiling of the special place they were in didn't fully let in the light from the outside. Warm air from the electric fireplace caused a gentle rocking in the makeshift door to their own world.

Everything about the moment was perfect. Stiles was stretched out, he looked nervous, smelled like he was nervous. Derek could barely detect it under layers of peppermint and chocolate and himself that had settled into Stiles's skin. He leaned down and kissed the boy he loved. Stiles's gentle hands stroked through his hair, hesitant, unsure of what to do. There were times Derek wondered how they'd gotten to where they were. They'd both lost people they'd cared about, and yet somehow, they found each other in the process.

"I love you," Stiles whispered against his lips. There was more peppermint, more chocolate, and most importantly there was more Stiles being breathed against his mouth. There had never been air anywhere that was quite so sweet, quite so perfect.

"You're the most important thing I have," Derek told him, kissing him again. The animal need wasn't yet fully blooming, but Derek could feel it behind his eyelids. It wanted to take. It wanted to claim. It was a constant pressure at the front of his mind every moment they spent this close to each other.

It wasn't the master of him, not anymore. He was the master of his own mind, he was the master of his wolf, but in every relationship, no matter how dominant one participant was, there had to be give and take. The wolf in him wasn't his slave; the boy under him wasn't his slave either. Stiles probably didn't even know how delicate the balance of the three scales was. The Alpha Wolf, Derek, and Stiles, they were doing it together, they were making it together somehow. Derek's eyes fluttered closed momentarily as Stiles ran soft fingers over his forehead.

"Derek," Stiles said, his voice sounded so small. "I want you to know. I love you, but sometimes I get scared that I'm not good enough, that you deserve something better." He leaned down and kissed Stiles's forehead, waited to hear the rest of what he wanted to say. "I also want you to know that you're good enough for me, you're the most important thing I have. I love you even more than my tree house and my comic books. I love you more than Scott and my dad, but don't tell them that because they wouldn't understand how it's different. I love you as much as I loved my mom. I feel safe when I'm with you; sometimes you're the only thing that makes me feel safe and loved."

Tears dripped out of his eyes onto the boy's face beneath him, forcing their way past his closed eyelids. Warm arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down so that he could bury his face into the black cotton sweatshirt Stiles was wearing. Stiles was trying to help him hide his tears. How had he gotten someone so amazing to love him?

Memories cascaded over him, all the things from the place where it began.

_"W-what…" Stiles had said, Derek remembered how shocked he looked when he'd asked him if the spot in his bed was taken, the first night they'd returned home from the beach. He'd tripped in his excitement and Derek had caught him._

Derek took a deep breath, let Stiles stroke his hair.

_Stiles had licked his lips nervously as Derek tore through the seatbelt that had been keeping him away from Stiles's lap. He had looked up at the boy momentarily, loved the flush of skin as he bit his knuckle and turned away, too embarrassed that he sparked such hunger in another person._

"I love you," Derek said, even as the memories kept coming.

_Stiles had looked so worried sitting on the stairs as Derek walked past him carrying the suitcases, like somehow he thought that the end of their vacation didn't herald the beginning of something new._

_"I'm not carrying your suitcase out to the van Stiles," Derek had said, "I'm giving you a helping hand not a hand out."_

_Stiles had groaned, maybe he hadn't thought that Derek would remember all the things he'd ever said._

"I love you too," Stiles said, unknowingly adding another perfect layer of memory for Derek to reflect upon even as he went further back.

_Stiles had protested as Derek pulled him away from his friends to take them back to their room. He had wanted to keep playing games, to keep being part of the pack; he never wanted to let it go. He seemed as though he'd been afraid that once their game night was over, they'd never have another. Derek had to carry him over his shoulder back to their room._

Stiles was enough, no matter what he thought, Stiles was enough for him, sometimes maybe more than he could handle. He was so full of life. So willing to jump head first without caution, just like the first time Derek had made love to him.

" _Careful…" Derek had warned him, unable suppress the need in his voice as he had gotten inside Stiles for the first time. It hadn't been enough to take it slowly. Stiles had wanted more._

_"Move! You're not going to break me." Stiles had commanded, and had gotten exactly what he wanted._

"We don't have to do this, if you're nervous. If you're doing it for me," Stiles said. "I'm happy with what we have; you don't need to push yourself." Stiles always seemed to be worried that he somehow wasn't good enough, especially when it came to sex. He always wanted to make sure it was what Derek wanted. He had no idea how amazing he was. Derek had memories that still made his knees weak.

_"Was that good?" Stiles had asked._

_Derek had looked down at Stiles on his knees with his legs spread wide. The teenager had one of his fists wrapped tightly around his cock while the thumb of his other hand rubbed across his swollen lips, pink tongue darting out against it._

Stiles was gorgeous, hot, sexy, and the fact that he didn't seem to know it just made it all more powerful. What was between them was more than that though. Stiles had a way of saying just the right thing, having the perfect words in every situation.

_"I don't know… I don't know what I'm doing." Derek had said._

_He had been shaking and he hadn't been sure if it was from the fatigue of running across the city or if it was something else. He had shivered when he felt soft hands on his neck pulling his head forward. He hadn't opened his eyes when he felt Stiles press their foreheads together._

_"Being with someone, trusting them, I don't think it's about always knowing what you're doing. You have to sort of just feel it out as it goes," Stiles had told him "it's like poetry that you write together by living in each other's space, using how you feel to find the right rhythm."_

Derek let his head rest against Stiles's chest. "I want to do this, I'm just thinking about all the reasons why, I just need a few minutes."

_"Hey Derek," Stiles had said into the camera, Derek hadn't been able to shake the feeling that Stiles's brown eyes had been locked onto him._

_"I know why you left… well I think I know. You probably think you're dangerous, or that you're not the kind of person I want to be around. If that's what you're thinking, then you're stupid. You don't get to decide what kind of person I want to spend time with. I couldn't remember earlier but now I do, you aren't the boss of me. You're supposed to be my friend. Friend's don't just leave each other when one of them needs the other._

_I know that maybe, maybe you think that you weren't strong enough to protect your family, that you need to be stronger, but the thing is, this is a second chance, us, the five of us and you too. We can be strong together, we can take turns being strong, we can help each other. You and me, we can find out what we've got between us, and we can take it as slow as you want."_

_Derek had watched Stiles swallow nervously then lean forward to look directly at the camera._

_"If you want that too, if you want to know what it is that you and I could be if we stopped running and stopped hiding, then find me before the sun goes down ok? I know you can. I can't find you, I don't have Danny to track your phone, I don't have a super werewolf tracking power. I'm just a normal guy, just a regular person. So I'm going to have to rely on you to do it, you have to find me, because that's what people do when they care about each other. They do things the other people can't. So do it Derek, prove Scott wrong, find me before the sun goes down. Unless I really was just your whore, something to distract yourself before you moved on."_

"Take all the time you need," Stiles said as he gently rubbed soothing hands over Derek's back. "I'm not going anywhere." Even when he hadn't been sure about what was between them, Stiles had known.

_"This is what I want," Stiles had whispered into the space between them._

Derek had almost bolted, but when he heard those words his self-control had failed him. He wasn't proud of leaving while Stiles had been in the shower, but Stiles had forgiven him. There were days when he felt like he'd almost forgiven himself too. Derek went further back, smiling as he recalled their first kiss. He'd barely been awake, had thought of Stiles as a buzzing bee.

_Warm soft lips had brushed against his. He'd frozen, shocked at the suddenness of it. He'd not been expecting it. Stiles had ground down against him, and then a curious tongue had licked against his mouth, testing, seeking something. Derek had let him in; Stiles had let out a needy wet moan._

"What are you thinking about?" Stiles asked as he placed a small kiss into Derek's hair.

"All the reasons I love you," Derek said, "How you didn't want to let me go, even after I'd hurt you."

_"If I let go you'll leave," Stiles had said._

_Too perceptive, Stiles had always been just too damn perceptive for his own good._

_"I'm dangerous," Derek had said, "it's the only way you'll be safe."_

_"No," Stiles had sounded so sure he was right._

He had been right, the more Derek thought about it, the more he thought that maybe Stiles was always right, he let out a tiny annoyed growl at the thought that it meant that he was always wrong. Stiles chuckled underneath him, he'd already told Derek he wasn't scared of him anymore, even though he'd seen the worst parts of him, and still saw the best at the same time.

_"Derek, please don't do this," he had whispered to the raving mad beast that had taken over Derek's mind, "you're supposed to be the one who takes care of us."_

"You're okay, Derek," Stiles said as he continued to stroke his back. "I'm not going anywhere, I belong to you now, and you belong to me too."

Stiles was his, willingly gave himself to Derek, despite knowing what the need had done to him. Sometimes that moment, when it all came together was a bitter nightmare, sometimes it was the most sublime moment of his life. When he had seen Stiles, and thought that Stiles was his for the first time.

_A shining blue light had caught Derek's attention. It was his family's symbol, branded on Stiles's back._

_**MINE!** _ _The Alpha Wolf had declared, the force of it had rocked him to his core._

Derek knew that he did belong to Stiles, but the teenager never really made any demands of him, except maybe to be a little bit less of a tease before he gave Stiles what he wanted. Derek didn't think that counted though. The thing that they grew into, it had taken a long time to get to where it was. Derek wondered if Stiles remembered the first time he'd ever said out loud that he liked what Derek could do to his body.

_He'd been all bandaged up at the time, had called himself 'Edward Bandagehands', Derek loved how silly he could be._

_He had trailed his hands up and back over Stiles's shoulder blades, pressed down on them, and rubbed in motions that had caused Stiles to react as if they were both soothing and unbearable in turns._

_"Derek…" Stiles had whispered, "Your hands feel… they feel so good."_

_Stiles's voice had been like a lash whipping against Derek's self-control. It had flayed it open, left it raw and weak._

Derek stroked his hands under the sweatshirt that Stiles was wearing, his sweatshirt, and savored the sweet and nervous hitch in Stiles's breathing.

"Derek," Stiles whispered, "Your hands always make me feel so good."

Derek grinned, Stiles was sweet, loving, and did everything he could to make sure everyone else around him was taken care of. Well… except for in the morning.

_How Stiles had gone from having a small secretive smile on his face, like he knew something you didn't even when he was asleep, to a rabid enraged wolverine and back again was mysterious and terrifying._

"I love the way you talk to me," Derek said. He sat up. He was straddling Stiles's hips. "Can I take my shirt off you?"

"I was beginning to think you'd never ask," Stiles said, he sat up too and held his arms up.

Derek caught a brief flash of the paler scar tissue on his hands, the right one was by far the worst, where the shell had cut into him. Derek always walked on Stiles left side, to hold his left hand because the right hand had been the one that was hurt worse. Derek didn't think he'd ever forget that moment, when he saw Stiles trying to get into the house, hands dripping with blood.

_He had been about to slam his head against the door, Derek had grabbed him from behind and pulled him away from it. Stiles had thrashed and screamed, he had been shaking, kicking trying to do everything he could do to get away from him. Derek had lifted him off the ground, terrified that Stiles was going to hurt himself worse._

" _YOU! This all started with you and your family," Stiles had screamed it like an accusation. It had been._   _"I didn't have much but I had one friend, and you took him from me! It's your fault!"_

_It had been unfair; Derek had been stung by the words. He barely knew Stiles then and he had thought it unfair that Stiles thought losing one friend was worth the same as Derek losing his whole family, as if Stiles had thought that Derek wouldn't trade Scott's supernatural nature back for just one more second of Laura's laughter or his parents' smiles._

_In the end he had just held Stiles down, let him cry out and thrash and wear himself out until all that was left was the pain. He poured it out into Derek's shoulder, told him about his mother's death, how he felt that Scott didn't have time for him. He told him how jealous he was that Jackson had everything and it wasn't enough for him, how bad it hurt that Lydia never acknowledged him._

_Derek didn't know what to say, didn't know Stiles had been in so much pain, he'd just held him down and listened until Stiles had fallen asleep._

He finished pulling his sweatshirt off Stiles's torso, pushed him back so that he was spread out on the ground. Curious brown eyes regarded him as he stared at the pale skin stretched out before him. Stiles was perfect, Derek still remembered the first time he'd gotten a good look at him.

_Stiles had opened his eyes and blinked sleepily up at Derek as he stood over him in bed. He'd stolen Stiles's covers, trying to wake him up so that they could have breakfast together along with the other members of the pack._

" _Just five more minutes," Stiles had said, as though those five minutes would have made a world of difference._

_Derek had blinked down at him; he'd been wearing just a pair of tight white boxer briefs that weren't leaving anything to Derek's imagination. He'd been pouting when he said it. Derek could spend hours watching those soft lips and warm brown eyes._

_If that was all he'd done Derek might have been able to rouse him from the bed, but Stiles seemed to have some secret power over anyone who watched his lips for too long. Derek's hands had trembled, wanting to give Stiles back his covers, but he hadn't caved. Not until Stiles did the one thing that always made Derek give in._

" _Please…" Stiles had begged. He'd curled his lower lip into his mouth, biting it nervously and looking so needy, rocking back and forth in the bed. "S'cold," Stiles had said, and when he did Derek's resolve crumbled away._

_He'd given the covers back, and made an empty threat, "Five minutes," he had said, "Then I will come back here, I will pull you from that bed, and I will toss you into the shower myself."_

_Stiles had just curled the blankets back around him, and let out the noise that would eventually become Derek's greatest desire, a low moan of satisfied pleasure. It had been a soft rumble in Stiles's chest._

Derek had learned how to make Stiles make that noise on command, in a thousand different ways. He knew how to do it with his fingers, with his tongue, with his lips, and Stiles always made it for Derek's dick, and every time Stiles made the noise Derek wanted to coax him into making another, and another after that, until the only words he still had left were 'Derek', and 'please'. Then he'd try to take it further, until it was just a wordless mewling expression of bliss.

He leaned down and kissed Stiles, licking into his mouth until he made the noise. He ghosted his hands across Stiles's stomach, dipping slightly under the waistband of the boxers Stiles was wearing to pull them off. Stiles lifted his hips at the perfect time. They'd done this so many times they didn't even need to speak; they just knew how to move together.

Now it was time for Derek to learn how to move differently, for Stiles to learn it too. In a way, this would be like Stiles taking both of their virginities. Derek had never had anyone inside him and Stiles had never been inside anyone. He hesitated for a moment when he felt Stiles's fingers curl under the waistband of the pajama pants he was wearing. He swallowed nervously, he wasn't sure why, he knew he felt safe with Stiles, he remembered the first time Stiles had ever comforted him.

_Derek had woken up when Stiles had kneeled down next to the bed. He was confused and afraid; he'd been having a nightmare. He was being chased through the woods by a larger wolf than himself, larger than Peter had been, larger than Laura. It had been a slavering black beast with burning red eyes. Derek had called on his own wolf's strength when cornered, but it tore into his gut, his brilliant azure blue eyes couldn't stand up against those terrible crimson ones._

_Stiles had pressed his forehead to the back of Derek's hair. He had stroked the arm that had fallen off the bed. Stiles rubbed his face into the back of Derek's hair and whispered, "Shhh, you're going to be fine. I'm here, we're all here."_

_It had made him feel calm, to have that presence looming over him. He hadn't opened his eyes; he didn't want to scare Stiles away. The young man was trying so hard to be there for him, to calm him down, even though they'd never really shared much affection for each other._

" _You're not alone anymore," Stiles had said as he continued to stroke Derek's skin with those soothing hands. "We're not going anywhere, we're a family, and we're your pack."_

_Stiles had lingered against him, seemingly taking comfort in the warmth of his body. He had rubbed his face against Derek's hair, patted his back, and stroked the palm of his hand as he whispered, "We're right here with you, right here."_

Stiles seemed to have sensed the nervousness draining out of Derek's body; he used his hold on Derek's waistband to pull him forward, then rolled them over so he was resting on top of Derek's body.

"You're going to be ok," Stiles whispered to him.

Derek believed him; he could let Stiles take care of him sometimes. Stiles was strong enough to protect Derek too. He lifted his hips and let Stiles remove the pajama bottoms. He leaned in and kissed against Derek's stomach.

_**Vulnerable!** _

The Alpha Wolf vibrated in his mind, sensing that Derek was letting his guard down with Stiles nestled against his belly. He took a deep breath, tried to keep his body from shaking. Stiles didn't have any claws or fangs to tear him open, to threaten the wolf in him, but even if he had them, he wouldn't use them. They had something special, something stronger than that fear.

_Stiles had seemed so surprised when Derek wanted to help him finish dinner. The sauce he had been making smelled delicious. Derek hovered around until Stiles had offered to let him try it. He'd been suspicious, wondering if it was all an elaborate practical joke. Stiles as a cook seemed like such a ridiculous idea to him at the time._

_He had ordered the pack to help him, so that they each had a place and a role, it was how he had started to train them. They did it so well, he had thought he'd have to fight harder, but by the time they were all sitting around the table and eating he couldn't help but smile when he had thought no one was looking._

_Stiles had seen him though; Stiles saw everything with those brown eyes. He had nodded, letting Derek know that he knew, and somehow Derek had known that Stiles wouldn't say anything. They had shared something in that moment that the other four members of the pack had missed._

That something had grown into the most important thing, most precious thing that Derek had ever been a part of. Stiles continued kissing down his stomach. He somehow sensed that Derek didn't want to be teased, that he needed more than that.

Stiles sucked him deep into his mouth, tongue and lips working hard to give him pleasure. Stiles was so good at it, he started to buck his hips up into Stiles's mouth to get more but Stiles's hands pushed his hips down. It would have been impossible for Stiles to hold him against his will, but he let him do it, let Stiles do it the way he wanted to.

Stiles wasn't a vulnerable thing that needed Derek to protect him, do all the work for him, or to make all the decisions. What Stiles wanted was someone who was going to work with him, meet him half way when he wanted to do things on his own. He'd told Derek that the day they'd arrived at the beach house. Derek had been trying to dominate him, to get him to do what he wanted, but Stiles had spoken his mind.

_Stiles had said, "Well, it's hard for me to do anything with you being all handsy. Not like I can pull you along like you're Santa's fricken sleigh and I'm your adorable prancing reindeer team. How about you pull my suitcase out like a gentlemen, graciously offer to take it inside for me, which I will of course refuse because I'm a modern independent individual capable of doing my share of the work. I'm not looking for a hand out; I'm looking for a hand to get my suitcase. I mean, you are the one who finished packing it so you should take responsibility."_

Derek grunted as Stiles lapped at the head of his dick. Stiles knew all the places that made Derek want more. He was working all of them with his talented mouth. He made a needy whine around Derek's cock, released Derek's hips and stilled the movement in his neck. Derek thought that maybe he wanted something more familiar before they truly ventured into new territory. Derek gripped Stiles's head firmly and thrust up into his mouth. Stiles started making that soft rumble in his chest, the one that Derek loved.

Stiles didn't need anyone to save him; sometimes he wanted someone to take care of him, to do things for him. Derek knew that sometimes Stiles could exhaust himself worrying about other people and just needed someone to shield him from the world until he could get his strength back, until he could get back in the game in top condition. Derek grinned as he thrust up into Stiles's mouth harder, loving the way Stiles swallowed around him. Sometimes Stiles used that vulnerability for his own purposes, he'd lure people into standing up for him just to see if they had his back. Derek thought it might have been a defense mechanism, but sometimes it was just for laughs too.

_On the way to the beach house Stiles had been at the top of his game as far as being an annoying teenager. He'd wanted to play games and he talked incessantly. Eventually Derek had threated everyone into being quiet. Stiles wouldn't back down though, he baited Jackson into a frenzy of hostility, then tried to hide behind Derek._

_"Derek, Jackson is talking." Stiles had told him. He'd probably have laughed about it if he'd been more comfortable with them, but at the time he was nervous, still afraid of the Alpha Wolf inside him._

Stiles let Derek's cock slip out of his mouth, he growled in protest but Stiles just crawled up his body, nuzzled against Derek's neck and licked lightly. Derek gasped in pleasure as Stiles ground their cocks together. Stiles was so hard it seemed like it must have been painful. He tensed up his body, wanting to roll them over and give him some relief. Stiles nipped against his neck when he started to move, closed his teeth on Derek's neck.

_**Vulnerable!** _

The Alpha Wolf went wild; Derek closed his eyes to hide their burning energy in case Stiles released him and looked up. The Alpha Wolf wanted to hurl Stiles away from him, to tear out his throat for having been so bold. Derek wrapped his arms around Stiles tightly, held him to his chest. Stiles bit harder, sucking at Derek's neck as if to mark him, to prove to the entire world that Derek belonged to him. Derek let him, and the Alpha Wolf surrendered in his mind, it rolled over and went belly up. Derek wasn't sure if it was to Stiles or to him, but it didn't matter, because they were about to be one unit, coupled together, giving each other what they needed. Stiles would have said it was awesome. Stiles had known, on some level that everything was going to be awesome. Derek had overheard him say it to Scott.

_Stiles had said, "We are going on a vacation. A sour wolf funded vacation of awesome. Awesome at a beach, this is actually whatever comes right after awesome, maybe – maybe two stages past awesome even."_

Derek had wondered when it had happened for a long time, but he had his answer, Stiles had him at 'Awesome', and once he got him he never let go, just burrowed deeper and deeper into him until Derek didn't know where Stiles ended and he began.

Stiles released his throat, lapping at it soothingly the way Derek had done to him countless times. "Are you ok?" Stiles asked, "Is this good?"

Derek rolled over onto his stomach, shivered as Stiles nipped at the back of his spine. There was no warning from the Alpha Wolf. "I'm awesome." Derek said.

Stiles laughed, he sounded a little unsure and nervous. Derek pushed himself up onto his hands and knees so Stiles was draped over his back. He looked over his shoulder into those warm brown eyes and saw something new, a new type of hunger. He gasped as Stiles ran possessive hands over his sides.

"I'm going to make it good for you," Stiles promised.

"I know," Derek said, "You always do." Derek pushed his hips back against Stiles, felt the hard length of his dick against his ass. "Please Stiles," Derek begged, "Give me what I need." Derek didn't think he'd always need it, or that he'd always be comfortable doing it, but in this moment, it was what he wanted.

Stiles teeth bit down roughly on the skin at the small of his back. It was a perfect start, Derek started panting softly, a tiny whine of need that he didn't even know he could make bubbled out of his chest. Stiles's nails dug into his sides, he couldn't wait any longer. He  _needed_  Stiles now.


	5. A Place Just for Them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Stiles get closer, and share something special in a place built just for them.

* * *

Derek arched his back as Stiles trailed kisses down his spine. He gripped the blankets piled underneath him, desperate to hold onto something. Stiles was everywhere, the scent of him flaring so strongly through the enclosed space that Derek would have choked on it if his lungs hadn't been meant to breathe him in, hadn't been crafted for that sole purpose.

Stiles's nails were dragging down his sides, Derek trembled and panted. Stiles reached between his legs letting his fingers brush against Derek's balls before gripping him firmly at the base. Derek gasped as Stiles ran his thumb along the sensitive vein on the underside of his dick, hissed out in pleasure when the palm of Stiles's hand twisted over the tip. He opened his mouth to tell Stiles what he wanted, but before he could Stiles was already answering the silent plea.

Wet heat brushed against him gently, trailing the small patch of skin behind his balls and making its way up slowly. Derek grunted, the feeling of Stiles there, behind him, slowly blazing a trail of heat to the entrance of his body made him shiver. It was different, not what he was expecting. He thought he wouldn't like it, that he'd just tolerate it until Stiles had decided he was ready. He'd been wrong, Stiles was finding nerves that Derek hadn't known existed in him. He'd thought the little buttons to make a person's spine quiver were unique to Stiles.

Derek's toes curled and his fists gripped the blanket tighter as Stiles licked against him. He moaned, it was wet and needy and it wasn't a noise he was used to making but Stiles's hand on his dick gripped him tighter when he made it, the nails on his hips dug in harder. Stiles loved this; sometimes Derek spent what felt like hours trying to get into the boy's body with his tongue. He was beginning to understand why.

Stiles was kissing him, open mouthed, wickedly hot and sinfully wet. He spread his knees wider apart, panted out encouragement. Derek wanted to tell Stiles how good it was but Derek hadn't ever been taught words to express that type of feeling.

"Fuck," he panted, "Fucking… please… more…" he groaned, he hoped it was enough.

Stiles twisted the hand around his cock harder, gripping him tightly the way Derek loved it. Stiles's tongue worked harder too. Derek buried his face in the pillow, bit down on it to try to stifle the noises he didn't know he could make. Stiles moaned against him and licked harder like he was going to start trying to fuck Derek with his tongue, it sent a vibrating tingle up Derek's spine and through his balls at the same time.

Derek wanted more; he wanted to feel Stiles inside of him. "Please… Stiles," Derek grunted into the pillow. Stiles's answer was to lick harder, he was beginning to think Stiles's tongue was the strongest muscle in the teenager's body, he'd already known it was the most talented.

Stiles snaked his tongue up and down, forwards, deeper, back, and in ways Derek didn't even know a tongue could move. He could feel his balls drawing up, he gasped, it was too soon, he didn't know Stiles could do this to him, bring him to the edge so easily. Stiles's tongue abandoned him, Derek groaned in protest.

"Trust me," Stiles whispered from so close Derek could feel the hot breath against his ass. "I'm going to make you feel so good. You don't have to do anything."

Stiles mouthed his balls wetly and then used the tight grip he had on Derek's cock to pull it backwards. Derek's spine arched and he let out a choked whimper as Stiles's tongue brushed against the sensitive cluster of nerves under the head of his dick and then darted forward to lap at the tip and the evidence of Derek's pleasure that was leaking wildly out. The stretch of it felt good, the position he was in. It was all different. He'd thought he'd known everything that Stiles's mouth had been capable of. He'd been wrong again.

"Roll over for me," Stiles said. He licked up the length of Derek's cock and over his balls again, "I want to see your eyes."

Derek groaned at the words. Stiles let go of his dick. Derek flipped over onto his back and spread his legs open. He looked directly into Stiles's gorgeous brown eyes expecting him to look away. Stiles didn't look away though, he pinned Derek to the floor with his gaze, stole all the air out of his lungs and kept watching him. It was smoldering. Stiles licked his lips and Derek's dick twitched hard enough that the slap as it came back to rest on his belly sounded loud in the otherwise silent place they were in.

Stiles leaned down, not breaking eye contact as he licked over Derek's cock. Stiles never did this, never watched him like this. He was always the first to look away, always unable to face the hunger in Derek's eyes. It was Derek who had to look away first but even when he let his eyes flutter closed, even as he gasped at Stiles's mouth enveloping him in heat again, the image stayed burned in his mind. It was a possessive hunger that he'd never seen there before.

"Derek," Stiles said, letting his cock go free again. "I want to see your eyes."

"Stiles…" Derek whispered, he didn't even know what he was asking for. He was confused, unsure of what to do.

"I'm going to make it good for you," Stiles said, "I promise."

Derek didn't have the words he needed, he groped under the pillows near his head, knew that he'd placed a bottle of lubricant there. He'd planned ahead, but he had no idea what it was going to be like. His groping fingers finally found what he was looking for. He opened his eyes and looked at Stiles.

"That's good," Stiles whispered, "Give it here, I'll take care of you."

Stiles's eyes were still smoldering, so dark and yet filled with a hungry fire, an anticipation and longing for what was coming. Derek knew that even though Stiles had said that he was fine with what they had, it was because he didn't know there could be anything else. Now that he did he wanted it, wanted to try it out. Derek could smell it all over him, could see it in the way his hand shook as it took the bottle. It wasn't nervousness that had set Stiles's body quivering; Derek could tell it was excitement.

Derek closed his eyes when he heard the cap open. He was waiting, nervous, expecting to feel cool fingers breach him. Searing wet heat engulfed his dick again instead. He gasped at the unexpected sensation.

"Stiles…" Derek begged, and there wasn't any shame in it. He needed Stiles too, in this place, hidden from the rest of the world it was okay. He could let Stiles take care of him. No pressure, no expectation, he could let himself be loved, didn't have to cling so hard to make sure the things he had weren't going to go away.

For a long time Derek had thought that anything he loved was destined to be taken away from him. He wasn't going to let anyone take Stiles. He knew that Stiles wasn't going to let anyone take him either, that the teenager would fight with tenacity to stay with him.

Stiles didn't say anything, he used his mouth instead, worked his throat around Derek. He was probably trying to distract him from what was coming. It was working perfectly; he barely noticed when the first finger pressed against him, made its way inside.

Derek expected to hear the howling lament of the Alpha Wolf, but all he heard was a deep pleased rumble coming from Stiles's chest, vibrating through his dick and forcing pleasure through his spine. Stiles got a second finger into him; the two stretched and explored looking for something.

Stiles released Derek's dick from his mouth causing him to grunt when it slapped wetly back onto his stomach again. Derek opened up his mouth, he wasn't sure if he was going to complain or beg but before he could make a decision Stiles robbed him of breath. Stiles's fingers had found what they were looking for and Derek would have howled if his lungs were still working.

He gasped and shivered. Derek opened his eyes to look at Stiles. His lover's eyes were barely brown at all, there was so much hungry black that Derek thought they were sucking him into their depths. He wanted to sink into them, to see if that would let him see the world the way Stiles saw it.

The look on Stiles's face, it was as if he was in awe that he was able to do this, to bring these feelings to him. Derek grunted, breath hitching as a third finger sank into him. He watched as Stiles rocked back and forth in place seemingly lost in the wonder of how Derek was reacting.

"Derek…" Stiles gasped, "I want to be inside you, want to feel you all around me."

"Please…" Derek whispered, "I love you."

Stiles's hands were shaking, nervousness had threaded through the excitement. Derek sensed it rising up in his lover's chest. Stiles's eyes got wider as he looked down at Derek again, like the enormity of it was settling into him for the first time.

"You feel good," Derek said, "I want you to make me feel good." Stiles shook his head, eyes refocusing on Derek's face. "I need you to take care of me too…"

Nervousness fled, anticipation rose, and lust flared white hot like a supernova through the space that only they existed in. Derek couldn't smell the peppermint or the hot chocolate anymore, all he could smell was Stiles's need, Stiles's hunger, and it was dominating everything else. Derek was drowning in it. It was perfect.

Stiles scooted forward and Derek hooked his legs over Stiles's thighs. They both paused momentarily. Their eyes were locked on each other, drinking each other in. Derek felt the head of Stiles's dick nudge up against him, held his breath at the foreign sensation. Stiles sank into him slowly, inch by inch and Derek was losing track of everything else, losing track of his senses, losing track of his mind.

Stiles gasped when they were fully joined together, hips flush against each other. Derek felt Stiles's body trembling. Blunt nails were digging into his sides again. Stiles seemed stunned, mouth hanging open blinking like he couldn't believe what was happening, what he was feeling. Derek could understand how he felt, recalled in vivid detail the first time he'd been encased in the tight heat of Stiles's body. Now he knew what Stiles had felt, how full, how complete. He panted, wanted Stiles to move.

Stiles let out a soft whine, his voice trembling just as much as his body. "Derek," he gasped out sounding shocked, "So hot… so…" he groaned and his eyes fluttered closed. "So tight…"

Derek would have done anything to have seen this earlier, to see the awe painting Stiles's features as he shuddered and licked his lips again. Fire erupted in Derek's stomach. He needed more.

_**MORE** _

Derek gasped under the force of it, the Alpha Wolf was there pressing against the backs of his eyes but this time it was hungry for something new. "Please…" Derek grunted, rocking his hips, fucking himself against Stiles's trembling body with tiny motions that teased but didn't deliver what he needed.

Stiles blinked at the movement, his upper body curling in on itself slightly and his hips rocking back away from Derek, surprised by the sudden movement. Stiles blinked again and pushed his hips forward, gently rocking back into Derek's body.

"So good…" Stiles gasped, "Didn't know…"

Derek grunted, his own body was starting to shake, he needed more. Stiles gave another shallow thrust and this time hit a deep place in Derek that made him arch his back up off the floor, it caused Stiles to sink further into him, he moaned, vibrating around the sensation as though someone was shaking him by the base of his spine.

_**More…** _

The Alpha Wolf called out, but it wasn't commanding, it was begging. It had a new need, one that Stiles could take care of. Stiles could take care of Derek sometimes, could take care of the Alpha Wolf sometimes too. They could do it together, step by step, figuring out the rhythm of it as they went, just as Stiles had said on a beach at sunset so long ago.

Stiles pulled back and thrust forward again, picking up momentum and force but not speed. Derek watched as Stiles leaned over him, closed his eyes tight against whatever he was feeling and rocked forward again with more power. Pleasure spiked up Derek's spine, set his belly on fire and gripped him by the throat. He gasped, shaking his head back and forth, his hands reached up to stroke across Stiles's stomach and chest. Stiles's body trembled at the sensations Derek's hands were creating and leaned forward.

Stiles's sweat dripped down onto Derek's forehead and chest. His lover was panting, shaking harder and harder as he kept rocking forward. It wasn't brutal or quick; it was even, strong, and steady. Derek watched as Stiles's eyes fluttered open again. Derek reached out, wrapped his hands around Stiles's neck and pulled him down on top of him, catching his mouth and kissing him desperately.

Stiles moaned into his mouth, kept rocking with those shallow thrusts that didn't strike the deepest part of Derek so much as ground back and forth across it, a constant pressure of blinding sensation.

_**more…** _

It was a tiny whine, a plea from the Alpha Wolf to keep going. Derek couldn't say anything, his breath was shallow and his throat was raw. Derek's cock was trapped between their stomachs, every grinding thrust of Stiles's hips gave him more friction, more sensation. Stiles bit lightly at his lips, kissed his neck and his face. He was a flurry of lips and tongue all the while panting and whispering Derek's name like it was the most sacred thing in the world.

Derek hadn't known what to expect, had thought that he'd have been on his hands and knees with his face hidden as Stiles rutted against him but that's not what this was. They were forehead to forehead, breathing out of each other's lungs, licking at each other's lips and trying to stay alive, needing each other.

"I love you…" Stiles gasped, "Too good…"

Stiles's body started shaking again then froze, the movement of his hips stopped; he vibrated in place for a moment and then started rocking again. Derek could feel Stiles's thighs trembling under his the backs of his legs. Derek gasped when Stiles got his hand between them, gripped Derek and started pulling wildly even as his hips kept up their short forceful movements.

"Derek…" Stiles grunted out, gasping for breath and kissing him hard.

_**NOW** _

Derek couldn't hold on any longer, he was tumbling down into some place that he hadn't known existed, howling out as the pressure behind his eyes finally gave way and the tension in his body exploded outward, the force of it surprised him. He grunted, his head shaking back and forth as he covered them both in hot white fluid.

Stiles let out a hissing sound as Derek came. Derek knew what it felt like, to have the tight heat suddenly clenching around you, wringing you. Sometimes it made him feel like he wasn't going to be able to make it out in one piece, sometimes he didn't want to.

He stroked his hands over Stiles's short hair; he loved the look on his face. Stiles's eyes were closed, his lower lip curled into his mouth as his body kept rocking back and forth a few more moments and then he was shuddering, filling Derek, letting everything he had go for the first time into the heat of another body. Stiles whined at the sensation, hips trying to stutter back and forth a few more times. Stiles gasped and then collapsed onto Derek, the sudden impact of his lover's body landing on him forced the air out of his lungs.

"Derek…" Stiles gasped, still trembling with the aftershocks, each one causing him to slide a tiny fraction inside Derek's body. Derek shook with him.

"Stiles…" Derek whispered.

Derek had thought they would tear down the blanket fort with the desperation and need they shared between them but that special place that had been built just for them survived it. The place where they were alone, away from the rest of the world couldn't be torn down, couldn't be invaded.

They would leave it together eventually; they'd go back out into the regular world together, but they could return to that place whenever they wanted, Derek knew how to build it. He'd teach Stiles how to build it too. They could hide away whenever they needed to; they could return to that place that was just shadows and half-light. The place was just for them, where nothing could touch them, where they were together, wrapped up in each other's arms, sharing heat and breath and life.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Lydia's Secret Santa Claws](https://archiveofourown.org/works/605792) by [Seannyboy14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seannyboy14/pseuds/Seannyboy14)




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